The Smith girl
by YAY13
Summary: These of the stories of Penny Smith, Sarah Jane's biological daughter, as she grows up around her new brother and the friends she makes along the way.
1. Invasion of the Bane

**Hi, Yay13 here, just going to tell you a few things. I'm rubbish at putting disclaimers so if I forget, please take his as an official disclaimer that I don't own any characters apart from Penny. I have also taken several story lines from the series. There are quotes from the stories as well.**

**This is a gift to my younger sister. The arrangement is that she gives me ideas and I write them. She tells me which episodes she wants me to write about so I put them in too. Hopefully you will recognise the episode it is based on if you don't.**

**** This one is Invasion of the Bane ****

* * *

><p>Maria Jackson walked out of her new house and looked around. She watched as the streets descended into chaos around her. She was moving. Her parents had split up so she was moving house. Her mum, Chrissie, was mid-conversation with one of the removal men. She was ordering them about, as if she had control in the chaos. As the removal man turned away, Maria heard her mum begin to flirt.<p>

"Mind you, not bad." her mother said with a nod towards the backside of the removal man.

"Mum!" Maria exclaimed, managing only slightly to suppress the giggles that were attempting to escape. "Stop fancying the removal men!"

Maria couldn't believe what her mum was doing even when she attempted to justify it. She shook her head and let out a disappointed sigh.

"Cutlery, go on." her mother instructed, pointing towards the boot of their car.

As Maria moved towards the car, a duck egg blue Nissan pulled into the drive on the other side of the road. The driver and a teenaged passenger got out. Both were female, both shared the same brown hair. It was clear they were a mother and daughter.

"Hiya!" Maria called, giving them a distant wave.

The woman didn't even turn. She continued up the drive way into the house. The teenaged girl turned. She was about Maria's age. She looked like she was about to wave and then opted for a silent nod instead. Then the girl disappeared inside and shut the front door. Maria wasn't sure whether to be insulted or not. It wasn't like they had been very welcoming.

.

Maria couldn't sleep. It was a new house so she didn't expect to. She spent the night setting up her television and flicked it on to test it.

"Bubble Shock!" it screamed a little too loudly for two in the morning.

Maria quickly turned the volume down as she watched people dressed in neon orange skate back and forth and jump over and duck under objects.

"Contains Bane!" the television said as the advert finished.

Maria didn't know what Bane was. She didn't like the sound of it, nor did it sound very healthy. It sounded like some sort of poison. Maria didn't like Bubble Shock anyway. It was, in her opinion, foul. Suddenly a light was cast around the room. It was a pinkish light, seemingly not natural. Maria glanced at her telly but quickly saw that it was not the source of the light. It was coming from outside. She pulled back the curtains and gasped. The light was coming from across the street, from the large home of the frosty old woman and her strange daughter. Maria slipped on her dressing gown and decided to check it out.

.

The garden gate was unlocked and Maria pushed it open with a creak. The light had been coming from the garden. As Maria opened the gate, she gasped. Several floating pink and fiery creatures were floating in the area around the woman and her daughter. The flames hung off the aliens like cloaks and they looked beautiful. Maria was amazed. One of the aliens floated down and stroked the girl's cheek. Maria watched jealously, she longed to know what it felt like. Song like talking filled the air and the woman was handed a small curved device. She caressed the device and then nodded silently at the creatures. The creatures took off.

"I liked them." the girl remarked. "They were very nice, very friendly."

"They wanted you to return to their planet to be their queen. Of course they were being nice to you." the woman said.

The woman's voice was cold as if all the humour had been taken out of it. There was love in the voice as well but it was hidden well. The woman protectively put her arm around her daughter's shoulders and lead the girl in. Maria watched them for a few moments and then darted back to her house, slamming the door behind her.

.

There was a knock on the door. Maria was sleepy and reluctant to open the door. She opened the door and frowned. There was a girl her age standing there but it wasn't the girl from across the road. The girl looked unimpressed. They had barely exchanged a few sentences before the girl had barged through and into the lounge. She tried to find the music channels but Maria quickly revealed that they didn't have them.

"Kelsey, what are we meant to do?"

"Lets go into town." Kelsey said, getting up off the arm of the sofa where she had perched herself.

"I haven't got any money."

"That's all right, we'll just get the Bubble Shock Bus. It's free. Every half hour. Come on, get your stuff." Kelsey ordered.

Maria sighed and got up, getting ready to leave. She tried to escape her father as she left but ended up being forced to give him an embarrassing kiss on the cheek.

.

As Maria walked outside, she saw the woman returning back from a walk. The girl was listening to music, riding on a skateboard just behind the woman. Kelsey looked at the girl with disgust. Maria ran across the road so this time the woman would not be able to avoid conversation. The teenaged girl didn't pull out her head phones. She watched as Kelsey followed Maria across the road. They offered each other glares.

"Hi, we just moved in opposite. I'm Maria Jackson." Maria said, holding out her hand.

"Hello." the woman replied, almost reluctant to tell Maria her name.

Maria's father must have seen Maria talking to their new neighbours because he rushed across the street to greet her.

"Hi, I'm Alan, Alan Jackson."

"I hope you're not going to make too much noise. It's just I work from home and I don't want to be disturbed." the woman snapped back.

The girl was still giving Kelsey the evils. Maria decided that she would have to ask about that later.

"Okay, nice to be made welcome." Alan said, feeling a bit awkward.

Maria looked at him in horror and then the woman seemed to remember her manners. She smiled.

"Sorry, Sarah Jane Smith." the woman introduced herself. "That's my daughter, Penny Smith."

Penny slipped a headphone out of her ear and shook Maria's hand.

"Good luck settling in." Penny said with a pure smile.

It was the first time Maria had really seen Penny up close. She was very pretty, beautiful even. Maria wondered if that was the reason that Kelsey hated Penny.

"So is there a Mr Smith or...?" Alan was asking as Maria and Kelsey excused themselves.

Her turned to the two girls and watched them begin to move away.

"Where exactly are you going?" he asked.

"Bubble shock factory." Maria answered.

"Free bus." Kelsey explained.

Sarah Jane looked at her daughter. They shared a look with each other for a moment and then Penny nodded. She put down her skateboard and pushed off down the street, following the girls but at a distance. Alan didn't notice where the girl was going. Sarah Jane looked at him as he began to explain his own situation to her. He watched as Sarah Jane began to look a bit restless.

"I'm sorry but I've just remembered I need to pick up a present for Penny." Sarah Jane said and quickly got into her car.

Alan watched as she drove off with a frown.

.

Kelsey and Maria exchanged numbers as they walked towards the bus stop. Maria decided that it was the right time to ask about Penny Smith. "Why don't you like that girl?" Maria asked.

"She's a loony, just like her mother. She's sickeningly pretty, sickeningly good at sports and yet she never talks to anyone, never has anyone around. All the boys fancy her, all the fit ones too, but she doesn't seem to notice. My Mum's friend Kath Ponin says that there's a place for girls like that..." Kelsey began.

Maria stopped her because she was remembering the events of the night before.

"Just because they don't talk to people doesn't mean they're loonies." Maria pointed out, fishing for the real reason.

"It's not just them. It's the things people say they do. Like one day there was this guy in school and he began to talk about this foreign place called Gallafray or something, anyways, Penny punches him when he begins to talk about the fact he's got friends from this place called Sontar. Her mum's no better. This guy Sakkib once saw her by the station, and she was talking to this big crystal thing, and it moved."

"What? Like a monster or something?" Maria gasped.

Maybe what she had seen the night before had not been a dream. Maybe it had been real. She needed to know more. Kelsey didn't have time to answer. The bus rounded the corner. It pulled to a stop and Maria and Kelsey got on. Just as the bus had been about to pull away again, Penny leapt on, picking up her skateboard.

.

"I hate that stuff." Maria pointed out as Kelsey offered her a free bottle of Bubble Shock from the front of the bus. They moved to take their seats. Penny keenly sat on the double seat behind them. She rested her skateboard against one seat and then listened in on their conversation, not allowing herself to be noticed or recognised.

"You're one of the two percent, then. Doesn't work on two percent of the people, and that's a fact, that is. Anyway, it's organic." Kelsey replied.

"Organic doesn't mean everything." Penny muttered.

She was too loud because it caught Kelsey's attention.

"You got something to say?" she asked, confrontationally.

"Organic is not a magic word. It doesn't mean it is any better for you than other drinks." Penny pointed out. "I prefer water."

"See two percent." Kelsey pointed out.

"There aren't a hundred people on this bus." Penny muttered.

Maria could see her logic but didn't want to point it out. She didn't want to lose her only friend so far.

"I don't like Bubble Shock." Maria agreed.

"Good on you. Keep it that way." Penny said, turning to look out of the window.

Maria followed her gaze. Penny was looking at a duck egg blue car that seemed to be following the bus. The car looked a lot like Sarah Jane's.

.

Sarah Jane's car slipped through the gates. She pulled into a hidden parking space so her car was invisible to the workers who were by the front door. She looked at the people getting off the bus and saw her daughter walking in. That seemed fair; Penny took the front, easier to get in but not undetected, Sarah Jane took the back, harder to get in but she was undetected. She raised her wrist and flicked back the panel. She scanned the area and then smiled.

"I knew it."

.

The security scan was a surprise. Maria wasn't sure what to make of it. It was different. She hadn't considered there being a security scan device in pop factory. Kelsey explained it was to protect the recipe. Maria wasn't so sure. It seemed a bit over the top to protect a recipe. With a sigh, Maria walked through.

.

An image of Maria's face appeared on the screen in front of a technician. A series of information appeared by the side.

"Today's first lot is going through now." the technician said. "Transmitting to the Archetype in five, four, three, two, one."

Behind him a woman smiled. She was staring down at a medical slab in front of her. A boy with brown hair was lying there, unconscious. He had an oxygen mask over his face and sensors over his body. He was dressed in a white hospital gown and there was thin netting covering him. Suddenly electricity coursed through him. The woman let her smile deepen.

"He's almost fully mature. I would even say perfect. Mother will be pleased." the woman half whispered.

Suddenly the screen brought up something worrying. It was a picture of a girl: Penny.

"Who is that?" the woman demanded.

"Her name is Penny Smith. It says she's part of UNIT."

"UNIT?" the woman questioned.

She looked at the technician with fury and disbelief in her eyes. She was sure he was lying or that there was a fault.

"UNIT does not employ teenagers!"

"This girl has UNIT clearance." the technician protested. "She might not be a UNIT member but she's had UNIT training."

"Then take her from the group. Bring her to me. Let's find out what she knows."

.

Sarah Jane looked at the door in front of her. She tried the handle but it was locked. She frowned then let a smile cross her mouth. Luckily no door was ever truly locked for her. She produced her lipstick and aimed it at the door. With a click, the lock opened. Sarah Jane opened the door. Her smile faded as she saw two men in orange overalls standing there.

"Wrong door."

.

"Mrs Wormwood, we have an intruder." a crisp voice said over a radio.

"Then dispose of them." Mrs Wormwood, the woman from before, snapped.

"They said their name is Sarah Jane Smith."

Mrs Wormwood remembered the last name from their little UNIT friend.

"Take her to my office and make her comfortable. We'll have a family reunion there." Mrs Wormwood said with a smile.

.

"Just a quick reminder. If you could turn off your mobile phones, that means all of you. We have extremely sensitive equipment here and the signals can interfere with the machinery. So phones off." the tour guide, Davey, said.

"What's a mobile phone going to do? Make the bubbles go flat?" Maria joked.

"Enough lip at the back." Davey called back, staring at Maria.

Then he noticed Penny, standing there a bit detached from the group. He recognised her from the notice that had been sent round. She was wanted by Mrs Wormwood. He would have to wait until she was even more isolated. He got his chance when Kelsey began to text on her phone.

"Turn it off." Maria urged.

"What? You a goodie-goodie now?" Kelsey teased.

"I would turn it off." Penny said, looking at Davey out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah and that's cause you're a goodie-two-shoes."

"No, it's cause..." Penny trailed off.

She grabbed Kelsey and Maria and pulled from them the room.

.

Pipes bubbles and steamed around. Maria looked in horror at Penny.

"Are you trying to get us in trouble?" Maria asked.

"I'm saving your lives." Penny replied. "You see this was the reason I tried to get on the bus without talking to you. Kelsey drew me into that stupid argument and now you two are in danger."

"From what, you weirdo?"

Kelsey turned to Maria and used the current events to back up her theory. Suddenly there was a mobile phone tone. Automatically, Penny reached into her pocket. She pulled out her phone and took the call. Kelsey rolled her eyes and began to wonder off.

"I'm not staying with her!" Kelsey moaned.

Maria watched Kelsey moved away and then stared at Penny. The girl had gone pretty much white. She was holding her phone to her ear and not saying a word, as if getting instructions. There was a sincerity in Penny's eyes that told Maria she wasn't lying. Maria found herself trusting Penny. When Penny hung up the phone, she roared at it and threw it away. It hit against the wall. Maria scooped it up and turned to Penny. She was clutching her skateboard so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

"What's wrong?"

"Maria, I need you to find Kelsey and get everyone out of the factory." Penny said with such conviction Maria actually considered it.

"No." Maria said. "I'm going to stay with you."

.

Mrs Wormwood smiled as she put down Sarah Jane's phone. The journalist had watched Mrs Wormwood call her daughter and practically blackmail the girl into coming into the office. They had mentioned UNIT so it was clear they were more than just a drinks company. The woman had remarked that Sarah Jane's phone was special. Sarah Jane knew that both her and Penny's phones worked on a different frequency to other phones. They were both UNIT issued. It was in case an alien was trying to find out about Penny's parentage. Mrs Wormwood, however, pretended as if the conversation over the phone had not happened and when straight into a managerial speech about the drink and how good it was. Sarah Jane resisted it all. She refused to believe it because Mrs Wormwood had to be alien or at least the drink had to. Every time Mrs Wormwood tried a marketing tactic, Sarah Jane slated it, managing to find a fault. Mrs Wormwood's attempted escalated until she was offering Sarah Jane a drink. Sarah Jane remembered the first time Penny had brought a Bubble Shock home. Upon hearing the mysterious ingredient Bane, Sarah Jane had made Penny spit out any of the drink she had tried. Her instincts told her that Bane was not a good thing. Sarah Jane stared down at the drink she was being offered and shook her head.

"I would rather die." Sarah Jane stated.

Mrs Wormwood frowned for a second before her forced smile returned. She put the bottle away and got back to business. At least Sarah Jane did, telling Mrs Wormwood about the tests done on Bane. It had resisted them all – almost as if it was alive.

"Where is that daughter of yours? I'm sure she'll be dying to talk about what must be her favourite drink."

To Sarah Jane it sounded like a threat. Mrs Wormwood was trying to threaten her using Penny.

"She doesn't like Bubble Shock. In fact, she believes that the Bane chemical isn't what you say it is as well."

"Such a pity. Her life seems to have been scarred by her mother's alien paranoia. I do hope Penny is your only child." Mrs Wormwood said.

"Yes." Sarah Jane replied.

"And her father, is there a Mr Smith I should know about."

"Her father died before Penny was born. Me and him weren't even married." Sarah Jane said.

The memories touched a nerve. She suddenly felt an anger rise up in her. Before she had found Mrs Wormwood annoying, possibly frustrating, but now she hated her.

"I don't see what this has to do with the drink!" Sarah Jane snapped.

"Such a wasted life. Maybe you should find someone to keep Penny out of the social circles that involve UNIT and such things. Well, goodbye, Miss Smith. I trust I won't be seeing you again."

Sarah Jane got up and was about to leave. Mrs Wormwood's receptionist got up and lead the way to the lift, getting in with Sarah Jane.

"Kill her." Mrs Wormwood ordered over her earpiece.

She paused and then contacted every worker in the factory.

"Kill the girl when you find her."

.

Sarah Jane noticed through the reflective metal of the lift doors that Mrs Wormwood's receptionist was putting a hand to her ear. She frowned. That couldn't be good. As the receptionist moved towards Sarah Jane, the woman elbowed her in the stomach. There was a tone as the lift reached it's intended floor and Sarah Jane raced out.

.

Kelsey was grumbling about how much of a bad friend Maria was. The new girl had run off with the weirdo. Kelsey pulled out her phone and put it to her ear. Penny had said it was dangerous but she had taken a call while they had been in the factory. Kelsey rang a friend, deciding to meet up with them since Maria had befriended Penny.

"Hiya, Suki." Kelsey began.

Feedback pounded in her ear. She screeched in pain and dropped the phone. An alarm began. Kelsey looked around terrified. A noise from above her got her attention. She looked up and screamed.

.

The boy under the netting opened his eyes. The alarms were deafening to him. The flashing lights were blinding. He sat up and pulled off the oxygen mask, taking a few seconds to get used to breathing. He looked around. Machines overwhelmed his thoughts. He didn't know what they did, what they were for, anything. He just knew he had to go. He began to pull at sensors, freeing himself from the table. He pushed himself up and looked around. A man was lying on the floor unconscious. That only made the boy's urge to run even stronger. He raced from the room.

.

Maria turned the corner, following Penny. Two guards were standing there, their backs to them. Penny glanced back at Maria and mouthed at her to back away silently. Maria began to back away just as the alarms started. She jumped and hit into one of the pipes nearly. The clang got the men to turn. They looked at Maria and then their eyes settled on Penny. Penny winced and bit her lip. She looked at Maria and then the men grabbed her. They pulled her hands behind her back. Penny struggled fruitlessly. Her skateboard had been dropped and she edged it towards Maria. The other girl was unsure what to do. "Our mother will be glad to see you." one of the men whispered into Penny's ear. "A nice little snack."

Maria over heard it. She wasn't sure what to make of it.

_Do they intend to feed Penny to their mother? _Maria wondered.

Penny was looking at Maria for help. The girl wasn't sure what to do. She took a step forwards and kicked against the skateboard. She picked it up and that was when the men noticed her.

"Another one?" one of the men exclaimed.

"Wormwood never said there were two."

"Pity for you." Penny sneered.

She ducked as Maria swung the skateboard at the two men. It clipped both of them and they fell to the floor, dazed. Before they had chance to get up, Penny was racing off, dragging a rather bewildered Maria behind her.

.

Mrs Wormwood winced as she heard the alarm. It had to be Miss Smith and her annoying brat.

"Find them and kill them properly!" Mrs Wormwood spat, leaving the office.

.

Kelsey watched as Davey and his men walked in. He looked at her with a look of disgust. Kelsey was panicking, seriously regretting not going with Penny and Maria. Kelsey whimpered at Davey who seemed totally at home near the creature.

"She is not a thing. You are the thing! She is my mother, the mother of us all."

Kelsey simply felt sick. She was terrified and felt ashamed of her own fear. Those emotions both turned to anger when one of the men with Davey stood on her phone.

"That's my phone!" she snapped.

Davey turned back up to the alien creature and smiled, beginning to sooth it.

.

Maria was following Penny with fear in her eyes. Penny was leading the way with an eerie calm that was beginning to infect Maria. She could already hear her heart rate slowing. As a group of guards walked past, Penny pulled Maria into the shadows.

"When we get out of here, you have to explain what is going on." Maria pointed out.

Penny nodded and turned a corner. Maria watched Penny hit the floor as if she had been pushed over. She turned, ready to defend her new found friend once again. She didn't need to. A boy was slowly getting up from the other side. He looked confused. He was wearing a hospital gown. Maria helped Penny get up and then looked at the boy. He had brown hair and confused brown eyes.

"Er, hello." Maria said.

"Er, hello." the boy repeated.

"Who are you?" Penny asked.

The boy repeated her question with a frown. The boy seemed really scared but almost as if he was learning by copying them.

"We're lost." Maria tried, maybe the boy knew the way.

The boy copied her once again and then someone grabbed him from behind. It was one of the guards. Penny leapt into action, hitting the guard in the bend of his elbow. He released his grip and then Penny kicked him in the stomach. The blow threw him backwards. It was the boy who began to run first and then the two girls raced after him.

.

Mrs Wormwood walked into the lab that boy was from. She scanned the destruction and her frown grew. She saw the empty medical slab and almost threw something. She put a finger to her earpiece so it switched on.

"The Archetype has escaped. Find him. And for the Bane Mother's sake, turn off these alarms!" Mrs Wormwood barked.

.

"Find the Archetype!" a guard shouted at the group of men following him.

Maria, the Archetype and Penny were hiding under a set of yellow fenced stairs. They all stayed silent, holding their breath.

"We need to find somewhere to hide." Penny murmured when she was sure all the guards has gone.

Maria looked around. She smiled when her eyes settled on a suitable location for them to hide. The three teenagers darted into the toilets. A few seconds later, Sarah Jane hurried down the corridor. Her eyes fell on the toilets and she decided that it was the best place to hide.

.

Maria tried to comfort the boy as they stood in the toilets. He was very confused by the idea of being in the toilets.

"We're in the ladies. I shouldn't be in the ladies." the boy said. "I'm not a lady."

"It's either here or out there." Maria tried but the boy was still looking a bit confused.

"Is there a sign on the door that says no boys?" Penny asked, reasoning with the boy.

He shook his head.

"Then you're allowed in, it's just not suggested you come in."

"Someone is coming in." Maria said.

"Get into one of the loos." Penny instructed.

They all bundled into one of the loos. Sarah Jane walked in and looked around. She could hear movement. She pushed on the loo door and it swung open. She stared at the boy, Maria and Penny, all squashed into the loo.

"Mum!" Penny exclaimed. "I thought Mrs Wormwood had you."

"She did but... There's no time for talk." Then she noticed the Archetype. "Who's that boy?"

"We don't know." Maria admitted.

"Why is there no time for talk?" the boy asked.

Sarah Jane remembered the danger they were in.

"We have to get out of here."

.

Mrs Wormwood was annoyed. Davey had just admitted to her that both of their prey had escaped, more likely than not with the Archetype. It was annoying and put a spanner in the works. It was then that Mrs Wormwood got a smell of humans. She frowned and scanned the area. She caught sight of the ladies.

"Did you search in there?" she snapped.

"But it's for their females only: we are males. Their culture says we must never go in."

Mrs Wormwood managed an annoyed growl and then forced Davey in. She screeched when she saw the open window.

.

Maria got out of the car she had hurriedly climbed into. It was Sarah Jane's car. They were in her driveway. Sarah Jane helped the boy out of the car and Penny lead him towards the house. Maria looked at Sarah Jane. The woman told her to go home. Maria didn't want to. She wanted to understand everything. She ended up playing her trump card, telling Sarah Jane she knew about the things that had been in her garden.

"Now listen to me, Maria. My life is dangerous, and rule one, I don't put anyone else in danger. Especially not a kid." Sarah Jane snapped. "At least, other than Penny."

Maria fought the urge to scream and then hurried across the road, about to cry. Sarah Jane turned to Penny and helped the girl with the boy.

.

Kelsey looked at Davey and Mrs Wormwood with a scowl. She began to rant about her phone. Then she began to rant about Davey and how he was insane. Mrs Wormwood could get nothing from her. She sighed and began to tell Davey about Sarah Jane and her pesky daughter.

"You mean the mad woman and her loony daughter? They live on Bannerman road." Kelsey said. Mrs Wormwood smiled and looked at Davey. Then she pounced on the girl.

.

Davey examined Kelsey. She had fainted while Mrs Wormwood had done her work. Mrs Wormwood was sorting through the thoughts she had extracted the Kelsey with a frown. They were chaotic and hard to understand. Soon she found what she wanted to know. "Miss Smith lives with only her daughter. Bannerman Road. Number 13. Just them, alone." Mrs Wormwood said with joy.

She smiled.

"We must get the Archetype back."

"Yes." Mrs Wormwood agreed. "Kill the old woman and her daughter."

She woke Kelsey up and offered Kelsey a lift home.

.

Penny was watching the boy with awe in her eyes. He was sitting on the sofa, looking around the room as if all of the rather exotic and mismatching furniture was beautiful. Penny found it mystical to watch him. When his eyes settled on her, they observed her for only a second as if she was like any of the other furniture in the house. He watched her happily. Sarah Jane walked in with a tray. She handed Penny a mug after putting the tray down.

"What's he been doing?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Just watching." Penny replied. "He seems so... Innocently confused."

Sarah Jane nodded and walked over to the boy with a friendly smile. She decided she had to make the boy feel welcome. It might make him more likely to talk.

"You must have a name." Sarah Jane said. "If I'm Sarah Jane and that's Penny, then you're..."

"All I know is I had to run." the boy murmured.

"But you can talk." Penny reasoned. "You _know_ how to talk."

"Who talk you how to talk?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Everyone." the Archetype replied, simply.

The look on his face was simple. That was the only answer to the question; the only answer the boy knew. It was the only way he could explain.

"What does that mean? Everyone?" Penny asked.

"I am everyone. And then I had to run. I ran into Penny and then saw the other girl, Maria. Then I saw you."

The boy looked at Penny who apologised for running into him. Sarah Jane pressed for more answers. In the end, she knew she wasn't going to get anywhere. She let the boys' gaze fall down onto the tray.

"Is that food?" the boy asked.

"Yes." Penny answered.

"Food and drink." Sarah Jane clarified.

The boy asked which was which. He wasn't sure what to do. A voice interrupted their conversation. Sarah Jane denied it. Penny didn't, she disappeared upstairs, following the voice.

"I thought Penny was your only family." the boy pointed out.

"She is."

Sarah Jane closed the door and looked at the boy. She told him not to go upstairs, not ever.

"I'm just going to scan you." Sarah Jane said.

She flicked her watch open and scanned the boy. He stared at her watch with wonder in her eyes. He wasn't confused any more, merely interested.

"Not alien. A normal, healthy lad. Human. Ageing rate normal, but this says you were born three hundred and sixty years ago. No. You were born three hundred and sixty minutes ago."

"Is that good or bad?" the boy asked, sounding confused once again.

.

Kelsey frowned as Davey pulled the car over. He told her to get out even when Kelsey tried to convince him to let her stay. To lessen the blow, however, he tossed a bottle of Bubble Shock over to her with a reminder to carry on drinking it. He watched her walk away and then turned to look around the street. He began to scan the area. His eyes settled on number 13 and a smile crossed his lips. He got out of the car and moved away.

.

Maria watched as Kelsey looked at her with annoyance.

"Thanks for abandoning me." Kelsey moaned. "You ran off with that loony."

Maria didn't want to be part of a fight. She was in too much of a bad mood to become part of it. Maria began to ask Kelsey about what happened while they were at the factory.

.

Sarah Jane had popped upstairs for a few minutes and sent Penny down to watch the boy. The boy had seemed nervous so Penny decided to let him have some time to relax. She picked up a book she had been reading and glanced at the boy every so often over the top of her book. At first the boy had watched her and then he had picked up a book of his own. He had held the book upside down and then he had turned it the right way. He had been slow at first, taking minutes to labour over each page then it became more rapid. He was turning pages quicker and quicker.

"You can read?" Sarah Jane exclaimed as she walked in.

"I can now." the boy pointed out.

"He just learnt." Penny remarked. "At least that's what it seems like."

"It's easy. Letters and words." the Archetype pointed out.

Sarah Jane took the book off him. The book was very advanced. It was a complex book on South American history.

"Forgive me, but, if you don't mind, could you just lift up your top so I can see your stomach?" Sarah Jane asked.

The boy nodded and lifted up his shirt. Sarah Jane and Penny both gasped, looking at the boy's stomach. He frowned and looked down, trying to find out what they were surprised by.

"You don't have a belly button." Penny said.

"A belly button?" the boy repeated, confused.

Penny slid up her top just enough so the boy could see her belly button. He looked at hers and then then down at the lack of his.

"Everyone who's born has a belly button."

"But I don't have one. Why don't I have one?" the Archetype asked.

"I don't think you were born." Sarah Jane murmured, amazed. "I think you were grown."

Outside, Davey looked in through the garden window. He caught sight of the Archetype and the two Smiths. A smile spread across his face.

.

Kelsey was finishing her story. She finished it by announcing that she had been driven home. Maria gasped. The boy was at Sarah Jane's! If someone from the factory was there then the three of them could be in danger.

"Who drove you home?" Maria asked.

"The muffin!" Kelsey replied.

She meant Davey. Maria was horrified.

"What? The man from the tour? He's here on Bannerman road?" Maria managed.

Kelsey looked at her and nodded slowly. Maria raced from the room and out into the street.

.

Sarah Jane opened the door when she heard her name being called. She looked at Maria and frowned.

"I told you, leave me alone!" Sarah Jane said, trying to close the door.

Maria got in the way, blocking it.

"But it's the man from the factory. He's on the street! He's here!"

Maria was sure that the man had come for the boy. She knew they were all in danger. The danger became clear as an one-eyed alien turned the corner. It's long tentacles were covered in suckers and fixed the creature sideways on the wall. Kelsey was screaming at it, terrified. Maria looked at it and then glanced at Sarah Jane.

"Inside! Get in!" Sarah Jane instructed.

.

The creature thudded against the door as Sarah Jane kept it shut. Kelsey kept screaming. Maria was watching Sarah Jane, trying to work out what to do. Penny and the boy walked out of the lounge as if they had all the time in the world.

"What's happening?" Penny asked calmly.

"Hello, Maria. Hello, screaming girl." the boy said, politely.

Both sounded amazingly calm. They didn't seem to mind what was happening.

"Get upstairs." Sarah Jane instructed.

Penny turned to the stairs but stopped when the Archetype began to resist.

"We're not allowed." he pointed out.

"I'm allowing you." Sarah Jane shouted.

She wasn't in the right situation to have a discussion. Penny took the boy's shoulder and pushed him up the stairs. She let Maria and Kelsey go in front of her to make sure they were safe.

"All of you, just run! As fast as you can!" Sarah Jane bellowed.

Her daughter looked at her. Then the door was ripped away behind Sarah Jane.

"Mum!" Penny called.

Sarah Jane raced up the stairs following her. The creature Davey had become began to chase after them. Kelsey continued to scream as they thundered up the stairs. They stopped at the top landing. There was only a door for them to go through. The creature was catching up. The group stood there, staring down the stairs. Then Sarah Jane turned and looked around. She opened the door to the attic and slipped inside.

"Where's she gone?" Maria asked.

"She won't leave us to die." Penny said with conviction.

"You will die, Miss Smith, you and the squealing pigs."

Kelsey was cowering behind the Archetype. Maria was standing near the door. Penny was standing near the boy's side. Suddenly one of the creature's tentacles wrapped around the boy. It began to pull him down the stairs.

"Help!" the boy shouted.

Penny grabbed the banisters on each side and pushed herself up, kicking the creature in the tentacles hanging below it's one eye. It released the boy and let him scamper up the stairs.

"I will devour you for that. First you, then the screamers, then the old woman."

"Hey, less of the old!" Sarah Jane shouted, pulling out an alien fire extinguisher.

She fired it at the creature. It stumbled back and fell down the stairs, turning back into Davey. Sarah Jane looked down the stairs as Davey got up and ran away. She moved down the stairs and knelt beside the curtain Davey falling had pulled down. A large clump of black gunk was resting on the stairs. Sarah Jane collected it on a pencil.

"What's going on?" Maria asked.

Penny was checking on the boy. The tentacle had wrapped around the boy's leg where the gown didn't reach. She was checking it for bruises or chemicals. Kelsey was staring at them, trying to recover from what had happened. Sarah Jane told her to go. Maria shook her head. Kelsey disappeared upstairs and there was the sound of her voice from the attic. Fury lit in Sarah Jane's eyes.

"No, don't go up there!" Sarah Jane called and raced up the stairs.

.

Kelsey was looking around the attic. Maria thought it was beautiful. It was over-cluttered but the things that cluttered it were strange and alien. They looked as if they should be in an art gallery. Penny smiled as she walked into the room. Her eyes danced with happiness. She loved everything in the attic. Sarah Jane became over protective of all her things. She told them not to touch anything. The boy was the only one who really listened. He was eyeing the objects with the same look he had given the objects in Sarah Jane's lounge. When the questions from Maria and Kelsey came thick and fast, Sarah Jane gave an exasperated sigh.

"I suppose you've seen too much now. It's not as if anyone's going to believe you. Aliens are falling to Earth all the time. It's not just those stories you hear on the news. All sorts of creatures. Some have got lost, like the one you saw me sending home last night. Some of them crash-land, and some of them want to invade. You still believe me?"

"Yes. You're bonkers but I don't think you're a liar."

"That's nice to know." Sarah Jane said.

"And it's correct. We're both a bit bonkers." Penny smirked.

Sarah Jane gently tapped her daughter's shoulder as if to tell her off.

"This place is beautiful." the boy said.

"Thank you."

"Your lounge in beautiful. Your house is beautiful. Your child is beautiful." the boy continued.

Penny blushed as the boy's eyes drifted onto her. Kelsey looked at the Archetype through a magnifying glass.

"No too bad yourself, fella." Kelsey said.

"What does that mean?" the boy asked confused.

Penny smiled but didn't explain it to him.

"He's mine." Kelsey finished up.

Maria gasped to stop herself from laughing at the boy's highly confused expression. She turned back to Sarah Jane so she could see what Sarah Jane was up to. She asked if Sarah Jane had back up, someone there to help her.

"The government knows all about aliens. And then there are secret organisations dedicated to finding them, but they tend to go in guns blazing. I just think there's a better way of doing it."

"Even UNIT?" Penny challenged.

"Especially UNIT." Sarah Jane replied. "Your UNIT ID was what got Mrs Wormwood after you."

"But how did you get started?" Maria asked.

"I met this man."

"The Doctor." Penny interjected.

"Yes. The Doctor."

There was a dreamy tone to her voice. She looked a bit distant as she told her story. Kelsey kept remarking how mad she was. Sarah Jane finished her story and smiled at Maria.

"Then I joined her in her fighting aliens." Penny added.

"And the Bubble Shock factory; it's run by aliens."

Kelsey continued to deny aliens existing to the amazement of everyone else in the room. The conversation was finished by a bleeping sound coming from the wall. Sarah Jane's smile grew. Penny looked round so she could look straight into her mother's eyes. The girl was cautiously hopeful. Sarah Jane raced over to the wall and slid two sections apart. It revealed a safe. Sarah Jane opened the safe and smiled into it. Maria looked over the woman's shoulder and saw space. A black hole, with light getting sucked into it, stared back at her. In front of the black hole was a little robot dog.

"Hey, K-9!" Penny called.

"Greetings mistresses." K-9 said.

"There was a scientific project in Switzerland. They created their own black hole. If it gets free, the Earth would be swallowed up, so K9's sealing it off." Sarah Jane explained.

"K-9, as in canine? That's so lame." Kelsey remarked.

"So was your screaming. At least K-9 is useful." Penny snapped back, defensively.

"He's a metal dog with his bum stuck in a black hole."

"He's saving the planet. What are you doing? Kelsey, anything other than getting in the way because that's clear."

"Can you ever come out K-9?" Maria asked.

Sarah Jane quickly introduced Maria. K-9 answered her with was could have been an equivalent of a smile from the metal dog. Penny shifted to let the boy get a look. He looked at the dog and reached forwards. Penny gently batted his hand down like a mother stopping a toddler from touching something dangerous.

"I regret I must transfer my co-ordinates." K-9 said.

Penny's face fell.

"Can't you stay for just a few more minutes?" Penny asked.

"If I do not return to the distortion then it will engulf the Earth, young mistress." K-9 replied.

Penny let her mother close the safe and when she turned away, she wiped a tear from her eye. When she had been younger, a baby and a toddler, K-9 had been there with her. He had not been in the best condition but he had loved her and they had become good friends.

"I love you, my daft little metal dog." Penny murmured as she slid down the panels that covered the now closed safe.

.

Mrs Wormwood looked at Davey with disgust in her stern eyes. "You know the penalty." Mrs Wormwood pointed out.

They were in her office and Davey had just reported back that the Archetype was still in Sarah Jane's care and none of the children had even been injured in the slightest.

"But she had weapons. Terrible weapons." Davey protested.

"A hunter that loses it's prey is unfit to serve the Bane mother." Mrs Wormwood pointed out.

She turned into her Bane form and attacked Davey.

.

Maria picked up the device that Sarah Jane had been given the night before.

"What's this, then?" Maria asked, looking at it.

It was breath-taking, perfect in every way. It looked a bit like a shield with buttons on one side.

"It's a communicator. The aliens you saw last night gave it to me. They said that if we ever needed help, we could call them." "Then lets call them." Maria said.

Sarah Jane explained that it was not help with alien creatures. It was help to get Penny a husband.

"They were star poets from Aracteen Five. They fell in love with Penny and wanted to marry her. Penny convinced them otherwise but they still wanted to offer their services."

"Let me see." the boy requested.

Sarah Jane nodded to tell Maria it was okay. She passed the device to the boy and he stared at it with wonder. The boy was playing with it. When it bleeped, Sarah Jane decided that it might not be safe to let the boy handle it. They didn't know if he was working for the aliens or not. The boy looked upset so Sarah Jane told him that it wasn't personal. She just didn't like people going through her things. She slipped the communicator into her pocket.

"That device on your wrist, it detects alien life?"

"That's right." Sarah Jane said.

"Then what's it detecting now?"

"How do you mean?" she asked.

She looked at the device as it bleeped from where it was on her wrist. She managed a weak smile and then read the display. Maria was sure there was something outside and Penny moved towards the door, making sure that if something was out there, the door was defended. Sarah Jane was moving across the attic. She was moving towards the sofa that Kelsey was sitting on. Kelsey looked confused but her confusion turned to anger when Sarah Jane snatched up the Bubble Shock Kelsey had been drinking. She scanned it and frowned.

"It's the drink. It's that ingredient, Bane."

Kelsey protested about how it was organic. She didn't understand what the others were getting at. Penny looked at Kelsey, suddenly looking very concerned.

"Is it safe to drink?" Penny asked.

"I don't know." Sarah Jane admitted.

She looked at the screen and began to read out information. If it was not safe then ninety-eight percent of the UK population was in danger.

"It's alive. Species identified, Bane. It's not just an ingredient, it's an alien! This is the secretion of... I need glasses. A Bane Mother. There is a piece of living Bane inside every bottle of Bubble Shock."

Penny and the boy both winced as Kelsey began to fall into hysteria. Maria was trying to calm Kelsey down but the two other children just seemed to find it as a waste of time.

"Don't worry. Ninety-eight percent of the population is in the same situation as you." Penny pointed out.

Maria thought it was a bit harsh but some of the stuff that Kelsey had said to Penny was just as harsh, maybe even more so. Penny got even more offended when Kelsey started accusing her mother of everything.

"It's not my fault." Sarah Jane said.

"Yeah? You've got all this stuff, all these gadgets, and you sit here talking, yapping on all day about planets and monsters. What good is that? Why don't you actually do something?"

"All right, Kelsey. Just you watch. Mr Smith?"

A man's voice responded. Maria, Kelsey and the boy began to look around for the source of the voice. Penny smiled at their confusion and moved to her mother's side. They were both looking at a bricked up chimney that was so plain it was hard to notice.

"I need you." Sarah Jane replied.

There was a fanfare and the chimney opened up. Everyone stared at the computer that appeared. A large screen was revealed.

"Mr Smith's a computer." Penny explained.

"An alien computer." Maria gasped.

"Mr Smith, I want a visual link to Mrs Wormwood at the Bubble Shock factory. Can you get co-ordinates?"

As the computer began to work, Sarah Jane began to talk to Maria. She explained her reasoning and her want to give the others fair warning. Their conversation was cut short when Mr Smith began to say a long string of numbers.

"Whoa." Penny said. "And I thought my phone number was long."

"Visual link connecting." Mr Smith said.

.

Mrs Wormwood looked at the screen with a forced smile. Sarah Jane was on the screen. They exchanged harsh pleasantries until they got down to business. Sarah Jane revealed she knew what Mrs Wormwood was a Bane. Mrs Wormwood took Sarah Jane's words as a threat of war.

"Mrs Wormwood, the universe is huge, and Earth is so small. You don't need to do this. I'm asking you, as one species to another, just leave this world."

"And if I don't?" Mrs Wormwood asked, tilting her head like she was confused.

"Then I'll have to do something." Sarah Jane said.

She didn't make threats. She offered warnings, not threats.

"Very well. In the language of your young ones, bring it on."

.

Mrs Wormwood looked up at the ceiling. She knew that things were going wrong. She didn't doubt their ability to win the fight but she knew their plan needed to change. She let the ceiling slide apart and looked up at the gap it left. A large orange eye with tentacles swirling around it stared down at her. Mrs Wormwood didn't flinch or anything of the sort.

"Mother, events have escalated. We must declare war on mankind. Open your mind, Mother. You must convert the humans containing Bane. They will convert the rest. Let this become Bane World!"

The creature let out a roar.

.

All around the UK drinkers of Bubble Shock stopped in their conversations. Orange glows began to circle the heads of every Bubble Shock lover. This included Alan Jackson. He had been watching the news. He lowered his drink as the orange glow worked it's way over his head.

.

The boy had been stared at Kelsey. He had not been sure what to make of her panicking. The others were ignoring Kelsey. Penny and Sarah Jane were watching the computer. Maria was watching the two of them.

"Kelsey Hooper. Look!" the boy called, pointing towards the girl.

She looked like she was in pain or at least that she was terrified.

"Oh no, it's beginning." Sarah Jane gasped. "Kelsey, fight it."

An orange swirl engulfed her head. As it disappeared, Kelsey straighten up and held out the drink.

"Drink it." Kelsey ordered.

Maria was horrified. Sarah Jane positioned herself between Kelsey and the other three teenagers. She made sure that the children could get out. Penny protectively took the Archetype's arm and led him out of the room. He had been one of the closest people to Kelsey and Penny wanted to make sure that he didn't get put under the Bane's control.

"Out! Quickly! Out!" Sarah Jane ordered.

Kelsey continued to chant the two word phrase even as Sarah Jane slammed the door to the attic and hurried down the stairs.

.

"We need to get to the factory." Sarah Jane said.

"I'm coming with you." Maria said.

"I call shotgun." Penny called, climbing into the car.

Maria briefly wondered how Penny could think about things so trivial at the time like that. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw her dad coming out of the house.

"Dad, stay indoors! There's all this stuff happening."

"Drink it." Alan said.

Maria was horrified. She began shouting at her dad. Silently, Sarah Jane took Maria by the arm and lead her into the car.

.

"This is bad, yes? I recognise bad."

"Yeah, Arcy. This is bad." Penny said.

Both her and Maria were scanning the figures that were stumbling, zombie-like, down the road. They were holding out bottles of Bubble Shock and telling the group to drink it. Sarah Jane swerved in and out of the traffic, attempting to not hit anyone. They were getting in the way. It was almost impossible not to crash. Sarah Jane knew she had to be quick but she had to avoid everyone. It was slowing them down. They knew they had to keep going.

.

Sarah Jane reached the gates. She had to keep her hands on the steering wheel but the gates were closed. She handed her sonic lipstick to Penny who was sitting in the seat next to her and got her to sonic the gates open.

"I'm going inside. Penny, you make sure that these two stay here."

"What?" Maria exclaimed.

The gates closed on the zombies.

"Mum, we're..."

Sarah Jane began to attempt to open the front doors. It didn't work.

"Deadlocked." Sarah Jane stated.

"What does that mean?"

"It means the sonic won't work. She can't get in."

Penny wasn't enjoying the fact but she seemed pretty fine with what was happening.

"There's got to be a way of getting in. There's got to be. There must be something. What do I do? Oh, come on, Doctor, help me. Come on. Think." Sarah Jane muttered.

She turned around and looked at the children.

"What's that?" the boy asked.

While Sarah Jane and Maria were trying to work on a way in, Penny took her time to educate the boy.

"It's a bus."

"It's a garishly orange bus." the boy replied to Penny.

"I know. It's a horrible colour." Penny agreed.

"What are you two talking about?" Maria asked.

"We're talking about the bus." "The bus!" Sarah Jane exclaimed. "That's how we'll get in."

.

"All the humans who don't submit will be reduced to liquid. Then Bane will drink them, and what's that noise?"

Mrs Wormwood had been reciting the plans with glee, when she heard the sound of a high pitch squeals that was meant to count as a jingle. It was then that the bus crashed through the wall. Mrs Wormwood was shocked but she understood what was happening when Sarah Jane climbed off the bus. She looked around and then smiled.

"Not too late for the party?" Sarah Jane said.

Penny leapt down after her and began to look around. Mrs Wormwood looked at the girl with a frown.

"Miss Smith and Miss Smith." Mrs Wormwood said with a nasty smile. "I did want to see you earlier, Penny."

"Well, now you have seen me." Penny replied, recognising Mrs Wormwood as an enemy. "I saw your mother earlier so I believe it is time that you met my mother."

Mrs Wormwood pointed up to the ceiling. Both Sarah Jane and Penny looked up.

"Penny, get back in the bus." Sarah Jane instructed, seeing the size of the creature.

"Arcy, your grandmother is hanging from the ceiling." Penny called back.

The creature's tentacles began to drop down. They reached out towards Penny and Sarah Jane.

"Leave them alone!" Maria called, leaping down from the bus.

Sarah Jane looked at her with horror in her eyes.

"Both of you, get back on the bus."

Instead of the two girls getting on, the Archetype joined them.

"Oh, you've brought us the Archetype."

"He is a living, thinking human being and you created him. What for?" Sarah Jane asked, protectively taking the boy's hand.

"He's an assembly of thousands of different humans. A montage, you might say. A collage. On every tour of the factory, we'd scan the guests, all ten thousand of them, and then we fed every strength and every weakness into him. The Archetype."

"I am everyone." the boy confirmed, as if adding to Mrs Wormwood's explanation.

Penny nodded and pulled the boy to her side. She smiled at him to make him feel braver. In a sense the boy was less than a day old. He had memories of only that day in his head. He managed a smile back. It wasn't a scared smile. It was a rather happy smile.

"But why?"

"Why make him?" Penny reiterated Maria's question.

"The two percent that wouldn't touch Bane. The Archetype could tell us exactly how to modify our product. But since we've advanced our plans, he is no longer needed."

There was a moment where Sarah Jane's heart actually stopped. She looked at the boy. She didn't know what Mrs Wormwood intended to do with him. She didn't want to know. The woman twisted her ring and the boy stumbled. He tried to latch onto Penny's arm but he wasn't strong enough. Penny caught him just quick enough to lower him to the ground. Sarah Jane leapt to his side and slipped off her jacket.

"He's only a boy. I'm begging you, let him go." Sarah Jane tried.

"Oh, that's so sweet. But he's dying, and soon you will join him, like all our enemies. Our slave control is activated around the world. The time of man is over. The time of Bane is come."

Sarah Jane and Penny knelt beside the boy. Sarah Jane pulled off her jacket and draped it over the boy's shoulders. Penny kept by his side while Sarah Jane stood up and moved away. Maria pulled out her phone in her anger. She called the first number on the list and pointed her phone at the large creature in the ceiling. It whirred and the Bane Mother screeched in pain. Mrs Wormwood smiled.

"The device is tiny, and now you've angered the Bane Mother. Do you really think that's wise?"

In revenge, the Bane Mother reached down and one of it's tentacles latched onto the nearest piece of rubble, a thick piece of piping. The piece of piping was swung at Maria and the others. Maria and Sarah Jane both ducked just in time. Penny and the boy didn't need to duck because they were both already kneeling. Sarah Jane pulled her daughter to her feet and they all prepared to say goodbye.

"Mother, descend and consume them!" Mrs Wormwood ordered.

"You forgot this." the boy whimpered, holding out the device that Sarah Jane had slipped into her jacket pocket.

"What is that?" Mrs Wormwood snapped.

"A signal device from another world." the boy said weakly. "It's like a mobile phone, only to call across the stars. It must be a million times more powerful."

"It's a good thing you don't know our frequency."

"Mister Smith said it out loud."

"But that was dozens of numbers!" Penny exclaimed.

"I remember them. You gave me the memory of ten thousand humans." the Archetype said, Penny helping him up slowly.

Mrs Wormwood realised that the boy would be able to do it. She frowned and told the guards to grab the boy.

"757562987032105 dash 5. Calling the Bane." the boy managed, his fingers flying over the buttons.

A piercing tone filled the air. The boy stumbled as he threw his hand into the air, the device with it. Penny supported him as Maria and Sarah Jane both covered their ears. The Bane Mother began to squirm in pain.

"The Bane Mother! You're killing her! Archetype, I order you to stop!" Mrs Wormwood barked.

"But you made him human. He's ours! We need to get him out of here." Sarah Jane said.

Penny and Maria each took one of the boy's arms and helped him from the room. Mrs Wormwood watched them with fury in her eyes. Around them equipment was beginning to explode.

.

Penny and Maria glanced back at the factory. They had just escaped in time to see the place explode. Sarah Jane watched as the zombie-like people at the gates began to look around confused. The boy began to take his own weight, a wide smile on his lips.

"Are you okay?" Maria asked the boy.

"Their control is gone; I'm free. That's good, isn't it?"

"Oh yes, that's good." Sarah Jane said.

"That's better than good." Penny agreed.

"I would be dead without you. We all would. You're amazing. The three of you. Amazing!"

"This is happiness, yes?"

The group began to jump up and down in a circle.

"We did it!" they all began to shout. "We saved the world!"

They all began to hug and then began to leap up and down once again, holding each other. They were all so proud.

.

"Dad!"

Maria rushed in and hugged her father.

"Whoa! What's brought this on?" Alan asked, hugging his daughter back.

"I thought I lost you."

"I had a bit of a turn, that's all. It's all over the news. Some chemicals escaped from that factory and gave everyone hallucinations." Alan said with a shrug.

He began to run his hands through Maria's hair because he wanted to make sure she felt safe. Sarah Jane and the two teenagers walked in. The boy was still dressed in his usual clothes.

"Hello." Alan said, eyeing the group.

"Hello." Sarah Jane said with a much more polite smile than she had ever offered Alan before. "We just wanted to check everything was alright."

"That's very neighbourly." Alan said with a smile.

"I'm sorry about before. It's just me and Penny had some things to sort out."

"It's okay. It's been an eventful day for all of us. Is it always like this?" "No, today has been pretty quiet." Penny with a smile, directed towards Maria, who smiled back knowingly.

"And who's this?" Alan asked, pointing towards the boy.

"This is what we're sorting out. It's Sarah Jane's new son." Penny said quickly.

Shock flared up in Sarah Jane's eyes. She looked and her daughter and then nodded.

"I decided to adopt him."

"Hello." the boy said. "Hi, I'm Alan Jackson and you are..."

"I don't have a name."

Sarah Jane, Penny and Maria each gave each other worried expressions. They had not thought about names for the boy.

"That's a rubbish joke." Penny sniggered quickly.

"Yes. He's called..." Sarah Jane trailed off.

She couldn't think of a name. She was saved by Chrissie walking in.

"Look at you, leaving your front door open after everything that's happened. Did you hear about the chemicals? Oh, it was a nightmare. I had Ivan chasing me round the bedroom saying drink it. I told him to get off, but he wasn't having it. Haven't you unpacked yet? Alan, I did say that the longer things stay in boxes, the less it feels like a home. And you are?"

"I'm Sarah Jane Smith. I'm from over the road."

"This is my mother." Maria admitted and looked at her mother.

"What's he wearing?" Chrissie asked.

"These are the clothes I was born in." the boy said as if it was normal.

"Right. Well, er, thank you very much, but if you don't mind, I've had a bit of a trauma. Family time. Thanks for calling in." Chrissie said, turning away from Sarah Jane and her children.

"Okay, we'll be off." Sarah Jane said, offering Maria an awkward smile and wave.

"This woman is rude." the boy stated.

"Yes. Definitely going. Come on, we'll go home and you can get settled in." Penny said hurriedly.

"You don't have to." Maria tried.

Her mother began to talk about the horrors of befriending the neighbours. Alan sighed awkwardly and watched the Smiths leave. They were happy to escape.

.

It was that evening and Sarah Jane had invited Maria round so she could escape from her father's attempts at unpacking. Penny carried out a tray with a jug of lemonade and four glasses. She placed it on the garden table and took a seat in one of the wooden chairs. The three of them lifted their glasses and tapped them against each other.  
>"Cheers." they all smiled.<p>

"And it's normal pop." Maria said in a victorious tone.

"Hooray for normal pop." Penny said, taking a sip.

"How's your friend? Kelsey?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Back-tracking like mad. She's saying it's all hallucinations. She also thinks that we are all insane."

"Then insanity must be bliss." Penny joked.

Then the boy walked in. He looked a little nervous. He was wearing a pair of clothes that Penny had managed to borrow from a neighbour. Sarah Jane patted the seat on the wooden chair next to her and the boy took it.

"This is good?" the boy asked.

"Yeah."

"We'll take you shopping tomorrow." Sarah Jane said, "Get you all the clothes you need."

"How are you gonna adopt him, then? I mean, you need forms and things. Who are you gonna say his real mum is, the Bane Mother?"

"Mr Smith's been busy." Sarah Jane said, producing a set of forms.

She showed them to the boy and he seemed impressed. They were missing only one thing.

"All you need is a name." Sarah Jane pointed out.

"Penny calls me Arcy." the boy stated.

"It's short for Archetype." Penny explained.

"I don't want my name to link me to them." the boy said.

"Yeah, I see your point." Penny nodded.

"You can chose your own." Sarah Jane said.

"I like Maria. It's a nice name."

Maria laughed. Both Penny and Sarah Jane gave the boy compassionate smiles.

"Maybe not." Maria giggled. "How about Jack? Josh? Nathan?"

"Harry? Patrick? Liam?" Penny asked, looking at her brother.

"Jonathan?" Sarah Jane said.

She watched Penny wince and then frowned. She shook her head as if to show the boy that it wasn't an option any more.

"Alastair? Luke?" "I like Luke." the boy said, stopping the list.

"That's the name I was going to chose if I ever had a boy. I had a girl instead."

"Luke Smith." Maria said. "It has a lovely ring to it. Luke and Penny Smith."

"Luke and Penelope Smith actually." Sarah Jane said.

Penny frowned and looked at her mother.

"I thought I said we were going to get my named changed."

"But Penelope is such a nice name." Sarah Jane said.

"So is there a Mr Smith on the cards? A man, not a computer." Maria asked.

"There was only one man for me. And after him, after he passed away, nothing compared. When I was your age I used to think, oh, when I'm grown up, I'll know what I want. I'll be sorted. But you never really know what you want, you never feel grown up, not really. I didn't feel ready even when I had Penny. You never really sort it all out. I just gave in to the chaos of being a single mum."

"It wasn't that chaotic." Penny answered. "Between us two, the robotic dog and the alien computer, we made quite a good life for us. All that was missing as a boy."

Penny looked at her new brother and gave him a weak smile. Then the group began to look up at the starry sky. There was a light dancing across the sky.

"That's a plane."

"A flying machine?"

"Yeah." Sarah Jane confirmed and they stared up at the night sky until they were too cold to continue.


	2. Aftershock

An alien was attempting to eat the children who stayed out at night. It was yet to find one that couldn't escape him but it and the people attempting to stop it knew it was only a matter of time. That was why Penny Smith was sitting in the middle of an empty playground in the middle of the night.

She had been the best choice for the job but then it had been out of her mother who unfortunately didn't look like a child, the neighbour's daughter who wasn't allowed out at night and Penny's adopted brother who, the last time he had been allowed out of the house, had got himself banned from a supermarket for telling the truth about the manager's appearance. (Penny had decided then that she should teach her brother to lie but that is a whole different story!) This brother was also only a week old and was happily chatting in the earpiece Sarah Jane had given her daughter so if she was attacked, she would be able to call help.

"And Maria said it tasted interesting." Luke said, finishing his tale.

"Well, it did." Penny agreed, remembering Luke's horrid attempt to use the kettle.

She wasn't sure how he had managed it but she was pretty sure he had created a new life form when making them all drinks earlier that day.

"Mum said you might be cold, would you like me to bring you a jacket?"

"No thanks, I've got a jacket." Penny replied.

Her jacket wasn't very thick but it would do. She would rather come home with a cold than have her week old brother wondering round the streets in the middle of the night. Luke's birth certificate said that the day he had been activated was his birthday which made Luke two months older than her officially but he wasn't. He was her little brother. He was sweet and, for all his intelligence, very naive. He spoke his mind not because he was angry but because he didn't know telling people that they were rude or ugly or wrong wasn't what people did. He also called people beautiful. He had told Penny that both Maria and her were beautiful and blushed when he talked about Maria.

Penny's happy thoughts were cut short by the sound of movement behind her. Her heart began to race and she looked around in the darkness.

"Luke, get mum, someone's here." Penny whispered into her earpiece.

"Okay, I'll get her." Luke said.

To Penny's ears, his voice was too loud. She was sure whoever was out there must have heard it. All she could see was darkness and the faint silhouettes of badly maintained play equipment. She didn't call out. If she called out then the thing would know where she was. She turned back; she had to pretend that she was a normal child who wasn't expecting an alien to attack them at any moment. Penny wasn't scared. She had done worse things than this without being scared and yet she jumped when a hand was pressed down on her shoulder. UNIT training and self-defence classes took over. The girl drove her elbow back, pushing the hand up with her other hand. She watched as the person fell to the floor and frowned. It was a boy. He pulled out a torch and shone it straight at Penny. She winced and blinked rapidly as it crossed her eyes.

"I am so sorry." Penny began, helping the boy up.

She had winded him and knocked him to the ground. The least she could do was help him up and make sure he was okay. In her ear Mr Smith was telling her not to worry and to talk through what the creature looked like. She wanted to reply but the boy would think she was mad if she talked to him over her hidden earpiece while she was dealing with the boy.

"No harm done." the boy said breathlessly.

Penny helped him to find a seat on the bench she had been sitting on and produced her phone. IN the darkness the screen acted like a torch but it was a bit more mellow, less blinding than the boy's torch.

"You're from my school." Penny said, searching for the boy's name. "Clive? Kevin? Callum?"

"Clyde." the boy replied. "Clyde Langer."

"Oh, yeah. Penny Smith; sorry about winding you."

"Well, it's the middle of the night, I'm sure I can let you off." Clyde said. "But I'm going to wind you when I get the chance."

"So why are you out here?" Penny laughed.

There was something about the way Clyde acted that just made Penny laugh. He was in her year and well known as the class clown. Penny wasn't sure if he was a nice kid but she didn't want him to be caught in the crossfire of a fight between her group of friends and an alien.

"My dad called me up again. He wanted to talk, explain why he walked out on me and mum. I just wanted some space to think it over." He paused and let his words hang in the air. "So what's your dad like?"

"My dad died before I was born." Penny admitted, sadly. "He was..."

Penny trailed off. The nature of her dad's death was classified. The official story was that he had been killed in a plane crash but the truth was he had been shot dead by alien plane high-jackers defending it.

"It was a plane crash." Penny finally said.

Clyde nodded slowly, taking it in.

"That makes my troubles seem kinda small."

"No. I never knew him. I miss him and I've heard about him but... Me and my mum got it sorted."

"Yeah. I live with my mum too." Clyde agreed. "So why are you out here so late?"

_I'm trying to stop an alien from eating the children of London._ Penny actually considered answering.

She knew she shouldn't but it was nice to toy with the idea of gaining such a surprised reaction.

"My mum's just adopted me a new brother but he's... He's sweet but..." "Mum, she's talking about me." Penny heard Luke say over the radio.

Penny had forgotten they could listen in. She wasn't sure whether or not to wince or be happy.

"So, Clyde, we're starting school again next week, you ready for it?"

"Nope. I haven't read-y all the books I needed to or anything."

Clyde offered Penny a cheeky smile, telling her that he was proud of her joke.

"That was awful." Penny remarked.

Suddenly she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. It was a large creature, massive. She wasn't sure what to make of it. She had only had descriptions from other children who had been attacked and Mr Smith's best image representations. There was no actual way to tell what she was up against.

"Well, I'm going to go..." Penny said.

She needed to get Clyde to go. He looked tempted to stay but if he did then he would be attacked by the creature. Penny had no doubt that Clyde was street-smart but she wasn't sure if he could take the creature.

"You should go home too." Penny said. "Tell your mother about the phone call. She'll be able to listen. That whole problem shared is a problem halved thing."

Penny could hear the rush in her voice. It wasn't panic. She didn't do panic but it was pleading. She was pleading Clyde to go. Just because no children had been eaten didn't mean that it wouldn't change that night. Clyde nodded to her.

"I could walk you home if you want. You live near me, don't you?"

"Bannerman road but no. I'm going to call my mum and get her to pick me up." Penny lied.

She slipped her phone out of her pocket once again and waved it at Clyde.

"Okay, don't wind her when she gets here." Clyde said and disappeared into the darkness.

Penny looked around, waiting for the creature to make it's decision, her or Clyde. The creature chose. It leapt towards her at such speed Penny barely had time to react. People had survived these acts simply through luck and Penny had to hope her luck held out.

"Mum, it's here. It's attacking." Penny said into the earpiece.

"Okay, Penny, just stay out of it's reach." her mother instructed.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"We're about to find out." Sarah Jane said.

Penny used her phone to light up the creature's face and swallowed hard. She gasped and it gave the creature chance to pounce, knocked the girl to the floor.

"If it isn't the Archetype stealer." the Bane standing over Penny hissed.

.

Sarah Jane was nervous about her daughter's safety as she got into her car. Penny was at the closest park to the house but that did not mean Sarah Jane would get there in time. As Luke climbed into the car, Sarah Jane was horrified. She didn't want both her children to be in danger. At least she knew that Penny was able to defend herself to a point. The boy was... To say he was untested was an understatement. Yes he had helped them take down the Bane but they had been organised and Luke understood organised. This wasn't organised or planned, it was a creature in a park attacking the boy's sister.

"Will Penny be hurt?" the boy asked, worried about Penny.

They had known each other a week but had become very protective of each other. Penny had made it her little project to get Luke to be as normal as possible without changing him. Maria helped out a lot because Penny's life was not that normal either. Penny however was still Luke's sister. She treated him a bit like a toddler, making sure he didn't touch hot things or muck around with wires, but she was very loving. It was clear Luke loved her back. She had saved his life in a fight with the Bane, kicking one in their front tentacles. Luke loved her for that and for accepting him into her home so quickly Sarah Jane briefly wondered about how Luke felt about her.

"Of course Penny will be fine." Sarah Jane said. "She's done things like this before."

"Then why are we going to save her?" Luke asked.

"Because we don't know what she's up against and we don't want it to get away."

.

Penny had been knocked out. The Bane had dragged her along the floor, hitting her head against it as they went. Hitting her head on a bit of play equipment had knocked her out. Penny wasn't sure what to do as she sat up and rubbed her head. Bane. She had thought they had all been killed during the explosion. Penny glanced around, trying to take everything in. The sudden movement made her feel dizzy so she stopped and scanned the area slowly. She was in some sort of warehouse, surrounded by crates. Penny could made a good guess at what was in the crates and it worried her. The Bane couldn't be about to try their plan again, could they? There was the sound of something hitting the floor and Penny tried to stand up to run. It was then at Penny noticed a glowing band around her wrist. She looked at it with horror.

"Congratulations, Miss Smith. You put up a lot more fight than I thought you would." a human voice said.

Penny glanced around. She was dealing with Bane, Bane in human form. She had no clear idea what they wanted her for but revenge seemed the most likely option.

"I knew that if I kept attacking children, I would get one of your group in the end."

"The Archetype is starting a new life, a better one than your slavery."

"I don't care about the boy. I don't care about whether he lives or dies."

"Then what do you want? Revenge?"

"The Archetype killed my mother, my family. I merely want to repay the favour."

Then the owner of the voice turned the corner. It was the receptionist from the factory, Penny recognised her from the visual link they had had with Mrs Wormwood. The receptionist had been in the background.

"Many people have tried to kill me and Mum. No one had managed it yet." Penny pointed out.

"There's a first time for everything." the receptionist sneered.

"What's to stop me from running? I'm probably faster and stronger than you."

"You might be but my Bane form combined with that band around your wrist will easily overpower you." Penny looked at the band. It looked like it was mostly made of metal but had a series of controls on it.

"It will send an electronic current through you the moment you get over ten metres away from me. It won't kill you but the pain is excruciating."

The receptionist smiled. Penny looked at the band on her wrist once again and then at her captor. She couldn't escape unless she could get the metal strip off but she was sure that if she did that then she would be punished, possibly killed. All Penny could do was hope that Mr Smith could understand what was going on.

.

Sarah Jane looked at the empty play park. Her chest had tightened the moment she had realised that Penny was not there. They had told the girl to stay in the park no matter what happened and Penny, despite all her eagerness, would not disobey Sarah Jane when the lives of others were on the line.

"Luke, stay close." Sarah Jane said.

She refused to lose another child. She hoped Penny would be safe but a motherly instinct told her that her daughter was in terrible danger. Sarah Jane pulled out her phone and considered calling Penny. She decided against it and then called Mr Smith.

"Any news?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Penny's earpiece is still in tact and transmitting. I am still getting her half of a conversation." the computer announced triumphantly.

"Put it through." Sarah Jane ordered.

Her daughter's voice came over the phone. Her daughter was no talking to her, she was in the middle of a conversation. When Penny didn't speak, Sarah Jane could hear a muffled reply that she couldn't understand.

"So how many Bane survived the explosion?" Penny asked and a pause followed. "Only you. Wow, that must suck for you." There was another pause. "And you thought that, instead of running back to the Bane home world with your tentacles between your legs, you would try and kill me and mum." "Bane?" Sarah Jane gasped.

She looked up at Luke who didn't hide his fear and surprise at the mention of his old controllers. He had only been free from their power for a week. He enjoyed life. He was not willing to go back under their control. Sarah Jane listened more to the conversation, hearing Penny repeat nearly everything her kidnapper said. She realised that her daughter, being as talented and level-headed as she was, was telling her what was happening. She was giving them all the information they needed.

"Can Mr Smith track the signal?" Luke asked.

"What?" Sarah Jane exclaimed, getting dragged from listening to the conversation.

She realised she had said that down the phone and hoped that Mr Smith had not transmitted it to Penny. The girl didn't need any detractions.

"Penny's earpiece. If it's still transmitting then Mr Smith might be able to track it." Luke pointed out.

"Yes, Luke, I can track the earpiece's signal." the computer confirmed.

Luke smiled and told him to track it. Sarah Jane was proud of both her children. She realised with amazement that she thought of Luke as her child.

"Cross-referencing the signal." Mr Smith announced in his proud tone. "Penny is in an old Bubble Shock warehouse. It now contains the pop that UNIT took off the stores. Penny's UNIT status could have gained her entry but it seems that the files are corrupt and there are no UNIT personnel in the area."

"Okay, send us the address. That must be where the Bane have her." Sarah Jane said.

.

Penny looked at the receptionist. She had been told to be quiet and was seriously considering resisting. That was when her phone vibrated. Penny's phone was special. After her father had died, UNIT had taken some precautions about Penny. Her phone worked on a slightly different frequency to most phones, meaning a lack of phone bill and that it had no effect on the Bane. Penny slipped her phone out as the receptionist looked at her.

"I need to..."

Penny forced herself to blush. She pretended her need to relieve herself so she would be left alone. The receptionist looked at Penny and then nodded to a pile of crates.

"Go behind there unless you want to be electrocuted." the receptionist threatened.

"Okay." Penny said.

She moved behind the crates and saw that it was Luke calling her. One of the first things they had brought him was a phone. Penny put the phone to her other ear, the one that didn't have the earpiece in.

"Bro, you have the memory of ten thousand humans, don't you remember the earpiece?" Penny asked.

"Sarah Jane asked me to call you so we could talk to your kidnapper. Why do you still have you phone?"

"Evidently my alien kidnapper is not very good at running Earth kidnappings." Penny joked.

Luke managed a small laugh. The receptionist came round the corner and saw Penny on her phone.

"Hey." Penny said to the receptionist. "My brother wants a word with you."

Setting her phone on it's highest volume, Penny tossed her phone to the woman with a smile. The woman caught it and looked at Penny with a scowl.

"Archetype?" she barked.

"My name is Luke now." Luke said simply.

Penny could hear anything that was being said. She enjoyed talking to her brother. It was just the way he said things so truthfully, so innocently. Penny knew she had to enjoy it while it lasted.

"I have your sister."

"We noticed." Sarah Jane snapped. "We're heading towards the warehouse you are in. Unless you release my daughter this instant I will make sure UNIT know where to find you." "Is that a threat?" the receptionist asked.

"For once, yes." Sarah Jane growled.

Penny gasped. She knew her mother. She knew her mother never made threats. Yet she had just threatened a Bane.

_She must really care about me and Luke. What am I thinking? Of course she cares about me and Luke. She really hates the Bane too. This is complete logical and yet it's mum. She doesn't make threats!_

"Okay, I will send your daughter outside." the receptionist said and hung up the phone.

She turned to Penny and then pulled Penny's wrist up. She changed the controls on the band.

"You'll have to walk more than ten meters to get to your dear old mother and I've just made the electricity settings even higher. You'll die." the receptionist explained.

.

Sarah Jane smiled as she saw Penny. The girl was standing outside the warehouse, alone. The woman got out of the car and nodded towards her daughter. Luke looked at his sister.

"Penny, come here." Sarah Jane called.

"Why is she waiting there?" Luke asked.

"Luke, could you come over here please?" Penny called. "I need your help with something."

Luke looked at Sarah Jane and got the nod he needed. He slowly walked over to Penny.

"You look very pretty when you're the only thing that a person can actually see." Luke said, referring to the fact that Penny was standing right under a street light while the rest of the street was pitch black.

"You need to stop doing that." Penny said.

"Doing what?"

"Telling me I'm beautiful or pretty or... You're my brother, not my boyfriend."

"But I thought we were friends!" Luke yelped, seemingly hurt by the idea that him and Penny weren't friends.

"Okay, we'll deal with this when we get home. I need your help to escape from this." Penny sighed, showing Luke the band.

"That's pretty."

"It's also going to give me a pretty big electric shock if I don't get it off before my captor decides to wonder off."

"What?"

Luke was giving Penny his confused face again. Penny was beginning to wonder if he just naturally looked confused.

"Just get it off!" Penny called.

Suddenly Luke began to work. He began to twist Penny's wrist around, surveying the band around it. He then pulled out a pencil from his pocket.

"Are you going to pick it?"

"What?"

"The lock are you going to pick it?"

"It doesn't have a lock." Luke reported. "Give me the earpiece and snap the pencil so the lead is showing."

Penny did as she was instructed. Luke threw the earpiece to the floor and smashed it with the heel of his shoe.

"What are you doing?" Penny asked, handing Luke back to two sides of the pencil.

Luke carefully placed one bit on the ground so he had the section where the graphite was exposed at both ends. He drove one end, the point, into the control panel, smashing it with a spark. He then pulled out a series of wires from the earpiece and linked them to the graphite.

"I kinda need an answer." Penny said.

She could fell the electricity beginning to build. It felt like several small static shocks were dancing around her wrist.

"It needs a lot less energy to send a powerful signal with this then it does to severely electrocute a human." Luke pointed out, pointing to the earpiece. "The energy is building so the Bane will be in too much pain to move long before she reaches ten metres."

"And you're sure this will work?" Penny asked.

"No." the boy replied simply.

"Good enough." Penny shrugged.

Suddenly there was a scream of pain. Luke couldn't look at Penny, terrified he had failed. He looked back at Sarah Jane, trying to work out if she was horrified. She was looking around.

"Okay, so I'm not going to die. Get mum to grab my kidnapper."

.

The receptionist had removed the band from Penny's wrist because Luke had quiet truthfully pointed out that killing Penny would also mean the woman's death as well. Penny looked at her wrist. The band had left a couple of bruises but other than that she was fine.

"At least the children of London won't get feasted upon by a Bane." Penny said.

"She almost killed you." Luke remarked. "She almost killed you because you're my sister."

"Luke, you know full well it isn't like that."

"I'm just going to put you in danger." the boy whimpered.

Sarah Jane was calling Torchwood about dealing with the receptionist. Despite how much she hated the woman, she was not about to hand her over to UNIT and a deathly penalty.

"You saved me. You saved the world the day you were activated. You saved my life back there because you're brilliant."

"But there is so much I don't understand."

Penny looked at her brother. They were in the lounge, waiting for their mother to finish her phone call. When she was finished they would go over what happened and then go off to bed. Sarah Jane wanted to talk about it in the morning but Penny had told her that she would rather talk about it that night.

"There is so much I don't understand either. I have no idea how you saved me. No, please don't explain... You're my brother, Luke, I understand that. You understand that. I would die for you. I would have taken that electric shock a thousand times to save you."

"Don't get electrocuted." Luke said simply. "I need you to teach me stuff." "Like how to compliment your sibling without making it seem like your dating?"

"Why would I be dating you?" Luke asked.

"That's better." Penny laughed.

"It would be useless unless you were a time traveller and you couldn't find an accurate calendar."

"Ah... Yes, that can wait for the morning." Penny decided.

**Lovely, short and fluffy. Please review.**

**** By the way ****

**This story idea came from my little sister who suggested Clyde should be in a story and there should still be Bane about. I cheated a bit by not having Clyde meet the Bane but...**


	3. Revenge of the Slitheen part 1

Luke itched in his new school uniform as he got out of the car. Penny had spent the week explaining the ins and outs of school to him but it wasn't working. He just couldn't get his head round some of the concepts like why years didn't tend to mix or why you didn't enjoy it. The idea of school seemed fun but Luke had been told by his sister that most kids didn't like it.

"Now, you two take care, okay?"

"Goodbye, mum." Penny said, closing the car door.

Luke copied her. He gasped at his own slip of the tongue and then looked at Sarah Jane, a bit ashamed.

"Oh, Luke, it's okay. Just keep it as Sarah Jane for now." Sarah Jane said.

Maria walked over with a smile.

"Hi, Maria." Penny called.

"Hiya!" Maria waved.

Luke moved towards Sarah Jane and let her kiss his cheek. A group of children laughed but they stopped when Penny and Maria glared at them. Sarah Jane got into the car and waved at the group. Then she drove off. Luke looked at Maria and Penny.

"Why were they laughing?" he asked.

"You know I told you that there were rules that no one has time to right down but you simply shouldn't do them if you don't want to get laughed at?" Penny began. "If people begin to laugh then you have possibly broken one of those rules."

"You let Sarah Jane kiss you in public." Maria said.

"But she's my mum."

"She's my mum too. Do you see any kiss marks on my cheeks?" Penny asked. "By the way, she still wants you to call her mum."

"She said she didn't." Luke said.

Penny face-palmed. Maria knew she had had to put up with Luke's questions all week. For Penny social stuff came so easily. Maria guessed it was hard for her to explain what she did, why she did it and just the day to day actions of people.

"It's not what she said."

"She was lying!" Luke exclaimed.

"You told him about lying."

"I told him about lying. The concept of doing so still alludes him." Penny said, letting her brother move just out of ear shot.

Maria shook her head with a smile. When the two girl's rejoined Luke, they were staring at a large structure. It was a massive flashy building made out of glass and metal.

"That's new." Penny remarked. "Unless I've got really bad at noticing things."

"It's new." Luke agreed. "I was reading the article in the newspaper to you this morning."

"When was that?" Penny asked. "Wait, was that what you were doing when I was listening to my music player?"

Luke looked a bit shocked. He looked at Maria as if he was telling her that he would never understand his sister.

"It's a brand new building." Maria remarked. "Wonder what's inside?"

.

In a control room full of wires and violently sparking equipment, a monitor caught site of Maria, Luke and Penny walking across the car park.

"Not them. Scan along. Where is he?" a male voice said.

"There him!" another male voice cheered.

The monitor settled on a teacher moving across the car park.

"He's not that big. How will I fit?" the first voice asked.

"He'll do." the second man snapped. "Get yourself ready. I'll go fetch."

.

Mr Jeffrey looked at the headteacher. He wanted to impress Mr Blakeman.

"What can I do for you?"

"Stand right here, Tim." Mr Blakeman said.

He positioned the man in front of a white panel.

"Any particular reason?"

"Very particular." the teacher said.

Mr Blakeman passed wind and smiled. Mr Jeffrey was very polite about it. Mr Blakeman took Mr Jeffrey's glasses just as the wall behind the teach opened. An alien claw tapped on the man's shoulder. Mr Jeffrey turned and screamed.

.

"I'm feeling anxious." Luke said.

"So am I." Maria replied.

"But you've been to school before."

They were sitting in the assembly hall. A group of boys had offered to let Penny sit next to them but Penny and opted to sit next to her brother and friend.

"There's nothing to freak out about." Penny assured them.

A boy walked over and asked Penny and her friends to move up. Penny looked up at the boy and smiled.

"Oh, hi, Clyde."

"Hi, Penny." Clyde replied. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

Penny shook her head and let Clyde sit next to her.

"Are these two new?" Clyde asked.

"Yeah." Penny replied.

"Then I guess I'll hang round with you until you work out where you belong." Clyde said.

"How do you do? I'm Luke Smith." Luke said, reaching round to give Clyde a hand to shake.

"Okay, I'm sure the nerds are sitting at the front somewhere." Clyde blurted out before he even knew what he was doing.

"The girl's Maria." Penny said, deciding to stop Clyde before he did something that would upset Luke. "And the boy is my brother who I was telling you about when we met. Luke, a simple hi would do just as well."

Clyde grimaced and looked at Penny.

"I'm sorry."

They were shushed when their head teacher waddled out onto the stage. He looked over all the pupils of the school.

"Morning, Mr Blakeman!" Penny and Clyde chorused with the rest of the school.

Maria and Luke shrugged. Suddenly the teacher farted. The whole school apart from Luke laughed to various degrees.

"What's funny?" Mr Blakeman snapped. "Right. Assembly, yah di yah. Welcome back everybody. It's a new year. Hope you all do well. Don't run in the courtyard. Don't even think of wearing make-up, and study hard, because I guarantee none of you are going to be pop stars."

"What's his problem?" Clyde asked, a bit disgruntled.

"His obviously has heard the school choir." Penny laughed.

He then announced that he was going to take the classes round the new block one by one.

"Starting with Form 10B."

.

When it came to the turn of the group's class, Penny was stopped by a group of boys. Maria was trying to help Penny escape.

"I've signed us up for this." Luke said, trying to befriend Clyde.

He handed Clyde a leaflet for a lunch time science club. The other boy pulled a disgusted face at the sight of the leaflet.

"Now I'm backing away."

There was another fart from the teacher and the group all laughed.

"Why is farting funny?" Luke asked.

"It just is." Clyde shrugged.

"But it's a normal process of the human bowel."

"Are you for real?" Clyde asked.

"Thank you for saving me?" Penny moaned coming over.

She was looking at Luke with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Luke replied.

"Those boys back there were trying to convince Penny to meet up with them after school." Maria said.

"Why didn't you help?"

"I didn't know." Luke moaned.

"Oh, dude, someone was hitting on your sister." Clyde laughed.

"No one hit Penny." Luke said.

Clyde stared at Luke. Penny knew she had to change the subject before Clyde got suspicious.

"What's that smell?" she asked, sniffing the air.

"Farts?" Luke suggested.

"No, this smells metallic." Penny said.

Clyde sniffed the air and so did Maria.

"It smells like batteries." Clyde said.

.

Maria was sitting by herself at lunch time. Luke was in the library and Penny had been called up by Sarah Jane to check how Luke was getting on. Penny had gone off to take the call. Maria was playing with her food thoughtfully when Clyde walked over. He put his tray down and sat next to her.

"Can I sit here?"

"Only if I'm not going to shame you." Maria teased.

"Where's Penny or that boy? Um... Luke?"

Maria explained where the two Smiths were with a happy smile.

"So how did you and Penny meet?" Maria asked.

"Well Penny and me have gone to the same school since we were kids and everyone knows about her. Me and her only really talked about a week ago. My parents are divorced. I live with my mum and Penny kinda understood what I was going through."

"I live with my dad." Maria said. "My parents got divorced recently."

"How you holding up?" Clyde asked.

"Well it's better than having them argue all the time." Maria shrugged.

Clyde happened to look down at his plate as he nodded to agree. He suddenly felt sick. He looked at the large bit of mould that covered his food.

"What's wrong with that? It's mouldy. What kind of slop are they serving here? Is it leftovers from last term or something? Sir? Sir?"

Mr Blakeman wondered over and looked at Clyde who had called him. Clyde pointed at his food, telling the teacher how horrifying it was.

"How am I meant to eat that?"

"Just pick the bad bits off." Mr Blakeman said and wondered off.

Clyde picked up a pea from his plate. It was the only bit off food that seemed safe to eat. Maria looked down at her food and gasped. Hers was also rotten.

"That's disgusting!" Maria exclaimed.

Clyde frowned.

"What's wrong with this place? It stinks, the food's rotten. Something weird's going on here."

.

Penny had just hung up on Sarah Jane when a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned and saw Carl. Carl was an unpopular, nerdy child who was socially awkward. Penny didn't have much to do with most of the people at school but she knew about how strange Carl was.

"Hello, Carl right?" Penny said. "Yes. You're Penny Smith."

"That's me." Penny said awkwardly.

"You smell nice." Carl remarked.

Penny groaned internally. Carl sounded a bit like Luke, all confused but at the same time curious. Penny had thought only Luke would say something so strange as that when he didn't really know the person. She briefly wondered if she could convince Luke and Carl to hang out. "Carl, I really have to go." Penny lied. "I promised Luke I would meet up with him."

She brushed past Carl. The boy turned after Penny and let a smile cross his lips as he sniffed the air after her.

.

Mr Blakeman watched as all the children began to go home from the school. Mr Jeffrey walked to the other teacher and frowned.

"This skin, it's killing me round the legs."

Mr Blakeman announced it was time for a test run, ignoring Mr Jeffrey's moans.

"What about the caretaker?"

"I've taken care of the caretaker." Mr Blakeman replied with a laugh.

The two hurried away from the disappearing pupils.

.

Alan Jackson was biking back from work when he saw Sarah Jane's care pulling into her driveway. He was surprised to see Maria getting out along with the Smith children. He began to tease Maria the moment he saw her.

"Shut up, dad." Maria laughed.

"How was the big first day?" he asked.

"Okay, a bit weird through." Maria replied.

"The headmaster kept farting." Penny said. "Noisy, smelly ones as well."

She held her nose and began to bat her hand about in front of her face. Alan and Sarah Jane both laughed. Luke just looked at Penny, wondering what she was doing.

"The place stinks like batteries, all the food is off and all these boys kept trying to hit Penny."

"Hit on me!" Penny corrected when she saw the surprise in her mother's eyes.

She looked at Luke and mouthed at him that she would explain later.

"I'll make you two a proper tea. Go and get changed." Sarah Jane said.

"Thanks mum."

"Thanks Sarah Jane."

"See ya later, Maria." Penny called back.

Alan watched as the two Smith children disappeared into their large house.

"I want a proper tea too!" Maria moaned.

"Make it yourself. You might have a chauffeur, but I'm not your cook." Alan joked.

"Whatever."

"No, forget it, it's all right. We'll phone out for a curry. Can't have you straining yourself after your long voyage home, can we?"

Maria laughed at her father.

"You think you're so funny!" she exclaimed and began to disappear down across the road.

Sarah Jane watched her go and then Maria turned back to wave. Sarah Jane waved at her.

"The school can't be that bad. Penny's been going there for years and she's never moaned about it. They've just built this as well. Someone donated the money and this technology block was put up over the holidays. It looks incredible."

Sarah Jane fished a newspaper out of her car and showed the page to Alan. He looked at the block and frowned.

"I did an IT job in a school, in a new block that looks just like it."

"Was it built by Coldfire construction?" Sarah Jane asked, seeing the logo of the company that built it pictured in the corner.

She was told the address by Alan and he wasn't aware he had given much away. He then turned away and said he had to go and make sure that Maria didn't order the entire menu.

.

Mr Blakeman was in the special room. He was going over all sorts of wires and machinery, a large smile on his face. He was enjoying every moment.

"Systems online." he announced. "Now, synchronise the mega-wattage."

Mr Jeffrey glanced over the controls, looking a bit lost.

"Synchronising mega-watty." he said, scanning the dials and buttons.

"That one." Mr Blakeman said, sounding annoyed.

Mr Jeffrey still looked lost so Mr Blakeman threw the red lever himself. A light flashed around the room.

.

Luke and Sarah Jane were in the attack.

"I kept making social mistakes today." Luke said slowly.

"I think I made one too. Penny knows the way to school and she could have made sure you got there safely. I shouldn't have driven you to school or kissed you in front of your friends. I've never kissed Penny in front of hers." Sarah Jane said, trying to make Luke feel better.

"I only really know Penny and Maria. Lots of boys try to talk to Penny when we're trying to talk and she doesn't sit near me. Maria isn't in most of my classes. There's this boy Penny knows who spends time with us. He's called Clyde and he thinks I'm uncool."

The way Luke said the word 'cool' made it sound like he was banned from even saying it. He looked at Sarah Jane like he was about to cry.

"Clyde's not the only kid in school." Sarah Jane reminded his friend.

"He seems to be Penny's friend." Luke managed. "What if I make more mistakes?"

"Penny and me and Maria will always be there for you." Sarah Jane said. "It's not like any of us are not going through a transition phase."

"But do I have to go to school?"

"I could take you out, teach you here. Both you and Penny could be taught here. I considered it. But you, Luke Smith, you're going to live a normal life. As normal a life as I can give you. Penny and you have to just keep trying to live normally."

Sarah Jane clasped her son's arms, telling him that everything was okay. She offered him a smile and then nodded.

"Remember, you saved the world the day you were born. You saved your sister's life a week ago. Not many people can say that."

"No one else can say that." Luke whimpered. "That's the problem. No one else is like me."

Luke looked away, trying to distract himself from what he was thinking about. He found his eyes settling on the computer. He moved towards it and looked at the map that was on the screen.

"Checking up on the firm who built your new block. Coldfire Construction. They started expanding eighteen months ago, contracts all round the world. Some odd things cropping up. Now they're putting up school buildings all round London. Well, it makes a change for me. Not aliens, is it?"

Penny gave a quick snigger from the doorway.

"When have I heard that before? Oh, yes, when we were talking about Bubble Shock." Penny said.

.

Chrissie looked around Maria's house. She seemed impressed. She turned to Alan who was standing in the doorway.

"Alan, this is really kind of alright." Chrissie said.

"Thanks Chrissie, I really value your opinion." Alan said sarcastically.

Chrissie scolded him and then asked where she daughter was. Alan replied that he thought the day had gone well. It soon became clear that Chrissie had forgotten what Maria had been going through. She called Maria down.

.

Mr Blakeman pulled down the switch with a triumphant smile. He turned to Mr Jeffrey.

"Lights out London." Mr Blakeman laughed.

.

"School can't be that bad. I mean, like I said, it's a much better catchment area. Ooo, I've got to go, love. Ivan's taking me to the pub. It's opera night tonight. The waiters sing while you're eating." Chrissie announced.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and turned off. The three of them looked around, scanning the darkness. It was clear it was a power cut.

"There's a torch." Maria said, searching a cupboard.

She produced the torch and switched it out. There was a burst of light and then it dimmed and faded away.

"It's flat." Alan murmured. "I'll get the candles."

.

Penny and Luke had been listening to music on Penny's phone when the lights went out. Luke slipped his headphone out and looked around.

"Power cut?" he asked.

"Yeah." Sarah Jane said. "Penny, see if Mr Smith is working."

"Oi, Smithy!" Penny called. "Mr Smith?"

There was no reply. Penny shrugged.

"The computer has gone off and I hadn't saved my work." Sarah Jane moaned.

"Guess what? My phone's died." Penny said.

Luke slipped out his phone and checked it. He phone was also flat.

"I'll just see how long it's going be. If I can check the local power grid." Sarah Jane said, flicking open her watch.

The watch began its scans and then the power faded. Sarah Jane looked at it with surprise.

"But that's impossible. It never loses power. It can't lose power."

.

"There we go." Alan said, putting a set on candles on the table.

He produced a set of matches and then lit one. Chrissie was looking out of the window. She remarked how far the power cut went on for. She turned back to her family, ranting on about power cuts. Alan lit one of the candles then watched as it went out. Alan sighed and relit it. It went out again.

"Weird, why is that happening?" Maria asked, looking down at the candle.

She began to search for a draught. Chrissie sighed and took the matches. She lit one and then moved to light a candle. She lit one and it went out.

.

There was a flash of sparks flying f a piece of machinery and a sound that could have been an explosion. Mr Blakeman and Mr Jeffrey both ducked as the sparks rained down.

"What was that?" Mr Jeffrey yelped.

"It's destabilising!" Mr Blakeman roared back.

"Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off!"

Mr Jeffrey panicked. The two men proceeded to turn off the machine quicker than lightening.

.

Chrissie smiled as the candle she lit stayed lit. She looked at Alan with a smug grin. Then the other candles, the ones that had been lit before, flared up and lit themselves. The torch comes back to life and then so do all the other lights. Maria glanced around.

"What?"

.

"We need to take Mr Smith off the main grid." Penny was saying as the lights came on. "The Bannerman road gang, saving the world unless there is a power cut, then we'll all stuffed."

"But there was just a power cut then and none of us are stuffed." Luke said.

"She means we can't do anything." Sarah Jane said.

She decided the check her watch. She slipped it open and stared at the display. It had power and was working fine.

"Weird." Penny remarked.

"Must be faulty." Luke said.

"Or the same thing that cut the electric off, cut this off." Sarah Jane murmured.

.

Mr Blakeman was being followed by Mr Jeffrey. The latter was moaning about their whole plan.

"Fantastic. Finally every station in the loop is working but the stabiliser cuts out." he moaned.

Mr Blakeman stopped walking down the corridor and turned to Mr Jeffrey. He assured him he would work out how to fix it.

"You brought those plans off that Wallarian. You took his word it worked!"

"I just need to sort out the storage problem, then it'll stabilise, okay?" Mr Blakeman snapped.

"Until then I'm stuck here, in this, teaching science on the planet Thick where they still haven't worked out string theory. Ooi, it chafes!"

Mr Blakeman smiled and reminded Mr Jeffrey of their ultimate goal: destroying the planet.

.

It was the next morning. Luke was nervous about school no matter how much Penny comforted him.

"My first lesson is with Mr Jeffrey. It's science, lab 2A." Luke said.

"You'll be fine. You're good at science." Sarah Jane murmured.

"Speaking about science. I'm going to have to pass up on your lunch time sciency thing. I've been given a few exercises from UNIT that I'm going to do in the gym at lunch." Penny said with a smile.

Luke gave a whimper. Maria had told him she couldn't make it the night before. She had said she was going to look round the school and get a feel for the place. Unlike Luke she didn't have the memory of ten thousand humans. Luke sighed and walked on, getting a bit of comfort from his adoptive mother. Penny smiled and kissed her mum's cheek, racing after Luke. She began to explain stuff to Luke that he needed to understand. Sarah Jane watched them walk down the road and then turned to Alan who was gardening. They talked a bit about gardening until Sarah Jane got down to business. She began to talk about the school Alan had talked about the day before.

.

Alan began to search through a cupboard. He talked to Sarah Jane while he was doing it. He told her about how much it cost and things like that.

"Where did the money come from?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I don't know. Private funding. What sort of journalist are you exactly?" Alan said.

"Freelance. Local stories. Nothing exciting."

"Maria was saying you travelled a fair bit."

Sarah Jane knew Alan was being friendly and smiled.

"You could say that. Everything was put on hold when Penny was born. I wouldn't mind travelling again through, maybe with Penny and Luke." Sarah Jane said.

Alan produced the plans for the building and placed them on the table in front of Sarah Jane. She scanned them until she noticed a strange section.

"What's that bit there? It's blank." Sarah Jane pointed out.

"I never went in. Coldfire kept it to themselves. It was all sealed off." Alan said.

"There's no door." Sarah Jane pointed out.

Alan joked about the school and someone hiding something. Sarah Jane was beginning to believe that it was happening but smiled and laughed it away.

"Do you mind if I keep this?" Sarah Jane asked, looking at the plans again.

"No, of course not." Alan said and let Sarah Jane leave with them.

.

"A transformer is an electrical device that changes the voltage of an alternating current supply, the AC supply, such as your, our mains electrical supply. Anybody know who invented the first transformer?"

Mr Jeffrey was droning on from the front of the class. Luke was sitting next to Clyde in the only spare seat. Penny was sitting near the back, watching the teacher with boredom in her eyes. It was no surprise when Luke was the only person who put his hand up.

"Faraday." he said.

Penny smiled. Once Luke had mastered the idea of putting your hand up to answer the question, he was answering every question possible.

"Correct." Mr Jeffrey said.

"But he didn't know what he could use it for." Luke added.

Mr Jeffrey looked at him with a frowned. The teacher seemed confused so Luke continued to explain.

"Faraday didn't know what he'd invented. I've thought about it, too. You could get rid of the transformers, get a better system and induct power instead."

"Geek!" someone in the class called.

Penny searched for the culprit and screwed up a bit of paper. She waited until Mr Jeffrey had turned away and threw the paper ball. It hit the boy in the back of the head and he turned to her. Penny smiled.

"Leave my brother alone." she hissed.

After that no one made fun of Luke until Clyde spoke up.

"Just pointing out. I'm nothing to do with him." Clyde joked.

The class laughed. Clyde turned to accept his praise. He saw Penny glaring at him and turned back shyly.

"Quiet!" Mr Jeffrey shouted.

He looked at Clyde with disgust in his eyes and asked for the boy's name.

"Clyde Langer." Clyde replied.

"Trouble maker, noted." Mr Jeffrey said and turned away once again, beginning to write on the board.

Luke looked around for Penny because he needed someone to explain something to him. He frowned when he realised that Penny was engaged in a conversation with the boy who had called him a geek. She looked rather annoyed. IN the end he turned to Clyde because Clyde seemed to be an expert in the way of being a teenager.

"You're cool because you make trouble. Should I make trouble?" Luke asked.

"I hear talking!" Mr Jeffrey roared.

Luke looked away from Clyde and back at his work. His attention was drawn to the boy once again when he heard a rummaging sound coming from the boy's bag. He was searching through it for something. Mr Jeffrey turned and looked at Clyde.

"What are you doing?" he snapped.

"My pen's run out. I'm getting a new one." Clyde lied.

Mr Jeffrey's shook his head. He grabbed a pair of tongs and walked over to the boy. He pulled out a plastic bag from the boy's school bag and sniffed it.

"What is it?"

"Cold chip sandwich. Made it this morning. Not chancing my life in that canteen again." Clyde said proudly.

Mr Jeffrey dumped the sandwich in a nearby glass tank full of stick insects. Clyde was horrified.

"Oi, that's my lunch. You can't do that!" he protested.

"You can wait until lunchtime and use the canteen like everybody else."

"I'll report you for that." Clyde said.

Mr Jeffrey turned to him. Luke expected an argument. Sarah Jane and Penny had had a small argument that morning when Penny had been sent a couple of UNIT files and tools. Sarah Jane had closed all the doors to the room they had been fighting in but Luke still heard it and he hadn't enjoyed it. He had come to the conclusion that arguments were bad. The bell saved Clyde from the fight.

"Right, for tomorrow, a thousand words on transformers."

The whole class, everyone apart from Luke, moaned and groaned. Mr Jeffrey smiled.

"Two thousand."

.

Sarah Jane had been show around St Cheldons by it's headmaster. The elderly head had been moaning about the new systems all the way round.

"I believe you had the wiring in your new block re-installed." Sarah Jane pressed.

"Didn't do any good. Computers keep crashing. And look."

The woman produced an apple from her handbag. At first it looked alright to Sarah Jane then the woman turned it. Sarah Jane could see a large section of mould. She grimanced.

"Fresh this morning. Everything goes off. And there's that smell, like batteries." the head teacher finished.

"Hasn't anyone noticed, complained?" Sarah Jane asked.

The head teacher nodded silently and talked about a school governor who had. They were now in hospital. Sarah Jane grimly thought how convenient it was and made a mental note to warn the gang about not complaining about it too openly.

"Can't you feel it, Miss Smith?" the head teacher mumbled. "Like a thunderstorm's moving in?"

.

A woman watched Sarah Jane on a screen. She thought there was something different about the woman. People who became too curious had accidents. It wouldn't be too hard to make an accident for Sarah Jane Smith.

.

Mr Blakeman was annoyed. Mr Jeffrey had come over to him talking about this supposed genius child.

"Incredible knowledge, this child, Luke Smith. He must be a freak." Mr Jeffrey rushed.

"You really think he can help us?" Mr Blakeman asked.

"Yes, we'll use him to solve the storage problem."

"A fourteen year old human child?" Mr Blakeman exclaimed, still unsure.

"There's something strange about him. These kids stink. Acne and grease and coats and crisps. But he smells fresh, like he's new."

Mr Blakeman finally agreed to let Mr Jeffrey use Luke for his plan.

.

"Welcome to Lunchtime Science Club. I had hoped for a slightly higher turnout, but never mind." Mr Jeffrey said, eyeing his class.

It was just Luke, sitting in the front row.

"I asked my sister to come but she wanted to go to the gym. I asked Maria to come but she wanted to look around. I asked Clyde to come but he..."

"I would rather have quality than quantity." Mr Jeffrey assured Luke.

That was when the door was opened and Carl walked in. He looked awkwardly at Luke and then at Mr Jeffrey.

"I'm Carl." he said to Luke.

"Luke. Pleased to meet you." He paused, remembering that Penny had told him a simply hi would do. "Hi."

"Carl's the science star of the school, supposedly. Though I imagine he's probably pretty rubbish compared to you. Take a look at this. Now, over the summer I've been having tons of jolly fun working on a new project. What do you make of this?" Mr Jeffrey said with a smile.

He put up a set of designs and lit up the panel behind them. Luke looked at the plans and realised what it was in an instant.

"It's a model for a giant capacitor system." he said.

"And purely theoretical, of course. Nobody could possibly build anything like this for real." Mr Jeffrey said quickly.

Luke was enchanted by the designs. He looked at them with a smile. They were much more complex than what he had been doing in the lessons previous. "You designed this?" Luke asked in awe.

He wondered if he could design something like it. Mr Jeffrey nodded proudly.

"Yes. I'm wasted here. Do you like it?"

"It's amazing." Luke breathed.

"Now I have a problem. It's a purely theoretical problem. Can you tell what it is?" Mr Jeffrey asked.

Luke studied the designs with the eye of a hawk. Beside him, Carl looked bewildered as his eyes glanced over the criss-crossing lines.

"Don't tell me. Oh, yeah. With this, you could store huge amounts of electrical energy. But there's a loophole. Here, in the storage, it wouldn't stabilise."

He pointed to a section of lines. Mr Jeffrey was amazed. He smiled and congratulated Luke.

"You went wrong here. You need to add an equation into the computer control." Luke worked out.

He processed everything and then scribbled down an equation on the board. To Mr Jeffrey and Carl the equation was a mass of numbers and Greek characters but to Luke it was simple to understand. He finished it and took a few moments to admire his work.

"I think that's right."

Carl stared at the equation, entirely confused.

"I'll take your word for it." he said.

"The power stabilises, all your problems are over." Luke said with a proud smile.

Mr Jeffrey smiled at the boy and then at the equation.

"Yes, all my problems are over. I don't know about yours through." he muttered to himself.

.

Penny was in the gym when her phone went off. Maria walked in just a Penny answered the phone. She signalled for Penny to put the phone on speaker and joined in the call. "Hi, mum." Penny said.

"Hi, Sarah Jane." Maria said.

"Hello, Penny, Maria. I've just been to a school called St Cheldons."

"Didn't I beat their whole athletics team in a race last year?" Penny asked.

"Knowing you it ." Sarah Jane said. "Their school has the same problem as yours. So I'm off to Coldfire construction."

"You could wait and me and Luke could join you. Maybe even Maria could be allowed to go."

"No. I have a different job for you. Have a look around your school. See if you work out where that smell is coming from." Sarah Jane instructed.

Maria nodded and Penny said goodbye to her mum. When she hung up, Maria turned to her.

"So what are you doing?"

"UNIT emailed me a few new training exercises." Penny said. "They also sent me a few new tools that mum disposed of."

Maria was interested. She had heard about UNIT when they had been dealing with Bubble Shock. Sarah Jane had explained it in more detail.

"So you and UNIT?" Maria hinted.

"My dad was a UNIT corporal. He was a great man and was very respected. Aliens wanted him dead. He met mum while they were stopping aliens together and the two fell in love. He died while mum was pregnant with me. He was shot by an alien called a Sontaran. UNIT said I had to take my mum's last name for my own safety because I couldn't be linked to my dad. When they found out that mum still fought aliens they told her to stop for my safety. Since mum was linked to UNIT before she met dad, they said she could continue if I got UNIT training. I'm now Private Penny Smith of UNIT. When I'm older they've offered me a job but I wanted to work for Torchwood."

"What's Torchwood?" Maria asked.

She had not wanted to ask the question. Penny had seemed so upset going over her story. Maria had felt wrong and rude asking the question.

"Another time." Penny said with a smile.

.

The two teachers were standing in the science lab, looking at the equation Luke had written on the board.

"Result." Mr Jeffrey cheered.

"Yes, that's it. And he just handed it over." Mr Blakeman laughed.

Mr Jeffrey continued to gloat.

"At last we will be avenged! We'll finish this planet tonight." Mr Blakeman finished.

.

The group were walking around after school. They were in the playground, trying to work out where they should go and look first.

"Someone looks happy." Penny said when Luke walked over.

"I had double maths this afternoon." Maria grumbled.

"Science club was brilliant. Mister Jeffrey's really nice. I think we're going to be friends." Luke beamed.

"You don't make friends with a teacher." Penny said quickly.

"Why not?" Luke asked.

"You just don't." Maria said with a shrug. "Anyway, Sarah Jane called. She wants us to look inside the new block."

Suddenly Clyde walked up behind them. He interrupted their conversation as if they were all best friends.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"We're investigating the new block." Luke said truthfully.

"I left something in the new block." Maria said quickly, pretending to correct Luke.

Maria lead Luke away before he had chance to deny it. Penny was about to follow them when Clyde grabbed her arm.

"What is it with those two? I've seen weird people. I know weird people. But those two, they're beyond weird."

"And I hang around with them and one of them is my brother. If you're going to keep insulting them then I suggest you go and find some 'normal' people." Penny said and moved off after her friends.

Clyde watched her with a frown. He shook his head and then followed them.

.

Sarah Jane looked around the Coldfire construction building. For a company that was an international building firm, the office was tatty. Sarah Jane wasn't sure what to make of the building. A woman stopped her in her path. The woman smiled at Sarah Jane.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

.

The group had decided to split up. Penny had gone with Maria to check the top floor. Luke was checking the bottom. While wondering round, Luke had been found by Clyde. Luke had tried to focus on the job in hand but Clyde was trying to work out what was going on. Penny acted weird around her brother. He had decided that Luke was the source of the problems.

"I want answers. Where are you from?"

"London." Luke answered but then returned back to focusing on what he was doing. "The layout of this building doesn't make any sense."

"But where have you been all your life? You don't know farting's funny, you let your mum kiss you in public, you didn't recognise what was going on when someone was hitting on your sister. Where was your last school?"

"I've never been to school before." Luke answered.

"What? Your mum taught you at home? Why did she send Penny to school?" Clyde asked, forgetting about Luke being adopted.

Luke reminded him. He began to work out what was going on with the rooms. He was doing calculations in his head with a smile.

"But what about your real mum and dad?" Clyde asked.

"I haven't got a mum or dad." Luke said simply, without even blinking.

"Everybody's got a mum or dad. I've got a dad, somewhere."

"This block measures about one thousand five hundred and thirty nine metres squared, so double that for both floors. The area of each room doesn't add up to that. So there's an empty space. Through there. I think you should go home." Luke said.

.

The woman had introduced herself as Janine. She had told Sarah Jane to take a seat in the rubbish office they were in.

"Janine. I've been reading up as much as I could. It's not just these school projects in London. You've moved from country to country, hiring cheap local labour, no questions asked."

"Yes?" Janine said as if wondering what Sarah Jane was getting at.

Sarah Jane pressed on using her investigator tone. She managed to make her questions dig in and sound strong. She refused to take no for an answer. Her children and her friend were possibly in danger at Coldfire construction.

"At your building in Santiago, workers refuse to go in. Food goes off. Endless technical problems. Valencia, Paris, the same story. And another thing. The plans for each building have a large empty area behind a wall. Why is that?"

.

Luke was walking down a corridor, looking from side to side, trying to understand his findings.

"There's another room, a secret room, behind there." Luke said.

It was clear he was talking him himself but Clyde thought Luke might be able to listen to him. He wasn't sure if the boy was ignoring him or simply too interested in what he doing to reply.

"Oh, I'm not getting through here. Stop being strange!" Clyde shouted and stormed away.

.

Maria was looking around one of the computer rooms with Penny. When the door was opened, the two girls looked at each other and then darted under a nearby table. They hid, unsure who was coming.

"Who's that? Hello? I know you're in here. I can smell you. Oh, a little girl, fresh as a daisy. Sugar and spice and all things nice. She really shouldn't be hanging around school after home time. Not when I've got no reason to hide in this stupid skin any longer." Mr Jeffrey called, slamming his fists down on a table.

Penny and Maria tucked their legs in, pulling themselves into the shadows.

.

Sarah Jane was leafing through papers, showing each of them to Janine.

"I think that because these projects are so far apart, nobody connects you with the problems, so on you go." Sarah Jane said.

She was pressing in deep, asking question after question, demanding answers. Janine was beginning to get angry and defensive. All that it told Sarah Jane was that Janine had something to hide, something for Sarah Jane to uncover.

"I strongly advise you to leave right now, if you know what's good for you."

"Is that a threat?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Yes." Janine said truthfully.

She gave Sarah Jane an open smile.

"What?" Sarah Jane exclaimed, having been expecting a lie.

.

Mr Jeffrey reached up to his forehead and began to pull on some sort of zip. Penny and Maria shifted round so they could look under the table at the teacher. Light was cast around the room.

"After all, why should I hide?" Mr Jeffrey asked.

.

Janine had been smiling. Sarah Jane didn't like the smile she was getting off the woman. She wanted to get away before the woman did something dangerous.

" Well, that was your last chance, Miss Smith. Be fair. I did give you fair warning." Janine said.

She reached up to her forehead and began to pull across it.

.

Penny and Maria looked under the bottom as Mr Jeffrey dropped his skin. Maria gasped. They could see large green feet.

"We need to go." Penny whispered.

Penny and Maria stood up and looked at what Mr Jeffrey had become. He was a large, fat green alien with massive claws. Penny and Maria darted from the room.

"I am Slitheen! Oh, I love it when they run." Mr Jeffrey called.

.

Mr Blakeman was in the control room. His eyes settled on a computer screen with a frown. A boy was on the screen, standing just outside the door to the room. He recognised the boy: Luke Smith.

"Your Luke Smith's too clever by half. He's right outside!" Mr Blakeman moaned.

He heard Mr Jeffrey's voice over the monitor.

"There are two more. Two girls. I'm after them now. Oh, it feels good, after so long." Mr Jeffrey said.

"Rejoice in your hunt, brother." Mr Blakeman congratulated.

.

Sarah Jane was hiding behind one of the massive piles of cardboard boxes that were in the warehouses. Janine was in her Slitheen form. She was searching for Sarah Jane around the room.

"I know you're in here. I can smell you. Mmm, what lovely perfume you're wearing, Miss Smith. You're positively fragrant." Janine said.

Sarah Jane took it all in and wondered, prayed, that there would be no Slitheens in the school.

.

Clyde was standing in the corridor and heard footsteps running towards him. He turned and looked down the corridor, seeing Maria and Penny running towards him. He wasn't sure what to do but he grabbed both Penny and Maria by their arms.

"We need to get out of here now! Come on!" Maria shouted.

"What?" Clyde called.

"Where's Luke?" Penny asked.

"I know you're out their, girlies!" Mr Jeffrey shouted.

"That's only Mr Jeffrey." Clyde laughed.

He had thought that they would be in real danger.

"And there's another one! A boy! This hunt is getting even better." "You are sad. Hiding from a teacher. What's he going to do, give you a detention?" Clyde laughed. "Clyde, move!" Penny shouted.

Then the Slitheen came round the corner. Joy glinted it in its large baby-like black eyes. A smile crossed its sharp teeth laden mouth.

"Come on!" Maria urged.

"Oh, no. Oh, no!" Clyde said releasing the girls.

The boy was frozen to the spot for a few seconds but Maria and Penny pulled him after them as the Slitheen closed in.

.

The Janine Slitheen was annoyed. Sarah Jane had disappeared into hiding without even running that far. It wasn't a real hunt until she ran.

"Run!" she urged. "It's no fun if you don't run."

One of Janine's claws hands clipped the boxes Sarah Jane was hiding behind and sent them tumbling to the floor. Sarah Jane was knocked to the floor along with the boxes. Janine looked down at here.

"The smell of human fear. Love it!"

.

"Kiddies! Kiddiewinks! Run as fast as you can." Mr Jeffrey called, sniffing the air.

He found the familiar scent of his three prey and smiled, raising his claws. He began to speed up.

"I'm coming to find you!"

.

Luke looked at the panel in front of him. He knew that there had to be a door somewhere but he was faced by a wall panel. He began to think through it logically.

"It's a door. And every door must have a door handle. About here."

Luke pressed his hand level to the where the door-handle would be. He took a step back as the panel slid open. He managed a weak smile and then walked in.

.

Maria, Clyde and Penny where hiding under the stairs. Mr Jeffrey was searching for them above their head. Clyde was calming down, getting over his first shock about aliens. He was watching the girls as Penny and Maria went through their options. "Can't you just kick it like you did with the Bane?" Maria asked.

"And let it claw at my leg. We need to find Luke."

"We need to get out of here." Maria said.

"We can't. We need to fight them." Clyde said. "With what?" Penny asked.

Suddenly the door just across the room opened. Carl was standing there. He smiled at Penny, Maria and Clyde.

"Come here."

Maria and Clyde moved towards Carl. Penny looked at him suspiciously and held back. She didn't trust Carl. Something about him was just wrong. Maria looked back at Penny with worry in her eyes.

"Penny!" Maria screamed.

Penny glanced up and saw a claw coming flying down towards her. Mr Jeffrey had found her. The girl dropped just in time and the claw flew into the space her head had been seconds before. She slid across the floor and, when she got up, she was next to Maria. Clyde looked at her.

"What was that?" Clyde managed, surprised.

_Sooner or later he's going to work out that me and Maria have fought aliens before. Bummer. _Penny thought.

"Just get inside." she instructed.

.

Luke was frightened and surprised by the massive machine. Wires and sparks littered his path. Luke could make sense of what he was seeing and he didn't like it. He wasn't happy about what he was seeing. He suddenly heard a voice and spun. Mr Blakeman was blocking his path out.

"So Luke, how do you like our little science project?"

.

Maria, Penny and Clyde looked around the room they were in. They was gasping for breath, unable to really talk. They had just been chased around the block several times. Penny snapped back into action first, rushing over to one side of the science lab they were in, beginning to search for weapons. Clyde turned to Maria, demanding answers. This time they couldn't avoid the questions. Clyde was already part of it.

"So where's Jeffrey? I heard him."

"That's Jeffrey." Maria remarked. "That thing chasing us."

"He's an alien." Penny explained.

"Oh, I'll believe it. Why not?" Clyde said; he knew he couldn't deny the evidence of his own eyes.

Maria turned to Carl so she could start doing work.

"Thanks for saving us. Is there a way out from here?" she asked.

"No. There's no way out." Carl said.

He sounded gleeful. Penny didn't like it. She noticed with horror that Carl was standing between them and the door.

"Get back! Back, back, back!" she ordered.

Carl farted and lifted up his fringe. He unzipped his forehead. Penny and Maria had seen it before so they knew what was coming. Clyde looked a bit sick. The Carl skin suit was dropped to the floor and Penny frowned.

"I am a child of the Slitheen, and this is my hunt!"

**Happy birthday to my little sister! Whoa! Whoop!**


	4. Revenge of the Slitheen part 2

**Sorry, it's been a while. No excuses though. Don't hate me.**

**I don't own the Sarah Jane Adventures.**

Clyde looked at the two girls with a frown. He didn't like the idea of getting killed by the alien. He grabbed Penny and Maria by the arms and pulled them away from the creature.

"Run!" he instructed.

They raced around a desk with the Slitheen waddling after them. They pulled the door open and flew outside and into the other room, hoping that Mr Jeffrey wasn't there.

.

Mr Blakeman lunged at Luke. The boy dodged and pushed Mr Blakeman towards the machines. He didn't understand the need for violence but it had gotten Penny out of trouble with aliens. Luke ran out of the secret room and sprinted down the corridor.

.

Slitheen Janine had got Sarah Jane in her reach. Sarah Jane knew she needed escape before Janine managed to hit her. She needed to think of a plan to escape.

"Good sense of smell, have you?" Sarah Jane asked, a plan forming.

"Oh, yes, best nostrils in the galaxy, official." the Slitheen boasted.

"And you like my perfume?" Sarah Jane added.

"Lovely!" Janine remarked.

Sarah Jane reached into her handbag and produced her perfume.

"Then sniff this!" Sarah Jane shouted and sprayed the perfume.

Janine screeched in pain and pulled back, trying to make sure that she didn't breath in too much. Sarah Jane smashed the bottle on the floor and raced from the room, through the fire escape. She pulled the door closed behind her and soniced it shut. Then she drove off.

.

Luke smiled when he saw Penny and Maria running towards him. His smile fell when he saw Clyde and the Slitheen child.

"I've found a secret room." Luke said proudly.

"Not now, bro." Penny called, half pushing Luke towards the doors.

The automatic doors refused to open even as the teenagers slammed against them. They all looked over their shoulders, spying on the approaching Slitheens.

"Get it open!" Maria called.

"It's locked." Luke reported, sounding scared.

"That thing's real, isn't it?" Clyde asked.

"It's real." Penny replied.

"This place is sealed. You're finished, right here, right now." the young Slitheen taunted.

Two Slitheens were moving towards them. The teenagers looked at each other and then decided that they had to race off before they were cornered by the creatures.

"This way." Maria called, heading down one corridor.

Suddenly the two Slitheens blocked the way down the corridor. Luke, Clyde and Penny looked at each other with wide eyes. The boys and Penny ended up running up the stairs.

"Hurry up!" Luke called.

.

Sarah Jane was driving along at high speed, trying to get to the school as soon as possible. She had to warn the teenagers about the danger they were in. She made a hands-free phone call to Luke to warn him.

"I was wrong, it is aliens." Sarah Jane said.

"I know." Luke said.

There was a roar down the phone to demonstrate how clear it was to her son that there was an alien.

"Make a smell. Make a big enough smell and you can get away." Sarah Jane said.

.

Clyde looked at Luke as if he was insane. Luke had just explained what his mother had said. Penny looked at Luke and nodded.

"What will we do?" Clyde asked. "Fart our way out?"

Penny was about to tell Clyde to stop being stupid when Luke asked if it would be funny.

"What?" Clyde exclaimed.

"Come on, little ones." Mr Jeffrey called down the corridor.

Penny pulled Luke and Clyde behind a wall. She knew it wouldn't be very useful in stopping Mr Jeffrey from finding them but it might help Clyde think better. Penny had ditched her school bag when they had first seen the Slitheen and Luke would have remembered if he had put anything that would make a big smell. Clyde began to look through his bag.

"They're nearby daddy, I can smell them." Carl said.

"Hurry up." Penny urged, glancing round the corner. "Think, Luke, Clyde, strong smells."

"A skunk?" Luke suggested.

It was Penny who shot Luke a completely confused look as if he was insane.

"Where are we meant to find this skunk?" Penny asked, letting Clyde sort through his bag.

"Yes, found it." Clyde said, victorious.

"Wolverine, pure masculine action." Luke read.

Clyde pulled Penny and Luke behind him and held up the spray. He sent a massive burst of the smell at the creatures. The Slitheens fell back and wriggled in pain. They began to cough.

"Go, go, go!" Clyde ordered.

The three of them thundered down the stairs.

.

Sarah Jane rushed forwards. She looked at the doors. Maria had found the others. They rushed over to the doors.

"Hunt them!" Mr Jeffrey bellowed.

"Sarah Jane!" Luke shouted, slamming on the door.

"Come on, Sarah Jane!" Maria called.

"Mum! The door's locked!"

Sarah Jane realised what he daughter was saying and realised she needed her sonic lipstick. She fired it at the door and it opened. She rushed forwards and opened the next set. The teenagers rushed forwards and towards the car. Sarah Jane soniced the doors closed on the Slitheens as soon as the teenagers where in the car. As the car started, Clyde turned to Luke.

"What's that?" Clyde asked, nodding towards the sonic lipstick.

"Sonic lipstick." Luke answered.

"Oh, of course." Clyde muttered.

Sarah Jane turned to Penny who was, like normal, sitting next to her.

"I let you have one friend, what's that boy doing here? Luke, Maria and now this boy; how many more, Penny?"

"Sorry." Penny muttered. "Another life in my hands is all I need." Sarah Jane said.

.

Mr Jeffrey turned to Mr Blakeman. Mr Jeffrey was still in his Slitheen form as was Carl.

"They're getting away." Mr Jeffrey moaned.

"That's not fair, Daddy. The woman cheated. I want my hunt." Carl added.

"That woman had some sort of sonic disruptor. This is a level five planet, they're primitives. How did she get that? Who is she?" Mr Blakeman asked, considering Sarah Jane's tool.

"The galactic police!" Mr Jeffrey gasped. "She could be one of their agents."

"No, she's human. The human child said that was her mother and she smelt soupy. They all do. Still, if that's her only weapon, she's no big deal." Mr Blakeman pointed out.

.

Clyde took in the wonder of Sarah Jane's house. Sarah Jane and her two children moved into the house in a rush. Clyde managed to catch onto Maria's arm, stopping her from disappearing into the massive building.

"I want answers. I've just been chased by aliens and you aren't even freaking out. Why? Who are you?" Clyde asked.

Maria paused and looked at Sarah Jane who glanced back at her.

"I'll be up in a minute." Maria said.

She guessed Sarah Jane was expecting a repeat of how Kelsey had acted, a barrage of insults and screaming until everything she had seen had been denied.

"You've got to go home." Maria instructed. "Forget this ever happened. Go home."

"No, I'm part of this now. I want to find out the truth. What's in there and who's that woman?"

"Just leave us alone, okay? You clearly don't think we're cool enough to hang around with you." Maria tried.

"The police won't leave you alone when I call them and tell them what happened. That woman would end up in prison and Penny and Luke... Who knows? Show me." Clyde said.

Maria pulled a face, looking hesitant. Clyde probably didn't know how much damage he could do if he called the police. Sarah Jane would be put in prison or made to change her identity; her whole life would be taken away from her. Penny would end up getting put into UNIT's care because Sarah Jane had let the secret get found out. Luke would end up in some sort of prison due to his differences. Maria had no idea what would happen to her or her dad. She frowned and then nodded at Clyde. She let him follow her up the stairs.

.

Mr Blakeman turned to Mr Jeffrey. They had sent the boy away so they could talk.

"At last, we've waited so long for this moment." Mr Blakeman said with a smile.

"Time's have been hard." Mr Jeffrey added with a nod of agreement.

"They've been closing in on us from all sides. Judoon, forcing us out, the other families against us. This will give us a new beginning. Wealth, security." Mr Blakeman replied.

"When we have the money, what then?" Mr Jeffrey asked.

"We'll buy a fleet of battle cruisers. Return home to Raxacoricofallapatorius. I shall smite the Grand Council, crush the Senate. The Blathereen and the Hostrozeen will beg for mercy at my feet! But we mustn't get carried away. First things first. We have the equation. Nothing can stop us. Now it begins."

.

Sarah Jane was pacing the attic. Penny was watching her and Luke. The boy was coping with what was happening very well. Sarah Jane was reading from her wristwatch scanner. Luke had remembered the name of the alien.

"The inhabitants of Raxa, Raxa, oh..."

Sarah Jane gave up and let Luke read the name of the plant off the scanner.

"Raxacoricofallapatorius." Luke said.

"Great name. Why can't our planet be called that?" Penny asked.

"Because humans need to be able to pronounce the name of the planet." Sarah Jane smiled.

Penny nodded and let her mum get back to reading from the wrist watch.

"The outcast Slitheen Family are scavengers, thieves of others technology. Known to infiltrate low-tech planets by hiding in the skins of the dominant native species." She paused. "Slitheen in Downing Street."

"What?" Luke asked.

"Something a friend said once." Sarah Jane said.

"What that before or after someone blew it up?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane shrugged. She got back to reading.

"Gas exchange from skin compression often results in..."

"Farting!" Luke exclaimed. "Farting's funny."

Penny looked at Clyde and Maria as they walked in. She sighed, looking at Clyde.

"I thought you were getting rid of him." Penny said; she turned to Clyde. "No offence."

"Great. Nice to feel popular." Clyde replied. "What's going on here?"

"Why don't you bring all your friends round? The whole school?" Sarah Jane asked.

She directed her fury at Penny and Maria. She knew that this boy was Clyde because Penny had mentioned his name on the way. She didn't direct it towards Luke because she knew he didn't really like Clyde much.

"If he tells anyone, who's going to believe him?" Maria asked.

"Whoa, wait. I've just had monsters from outer space on my back and no one's me what's going on." Clyde interrupted.

"Shut up for the minute, will you. I'm busy, and right now you're not important. Even if it is getting like Clapham Junction up here. Right. The Slitheen must have taken over Coldfire Construction, put up buildings all around the world. Why?" Sarah Jane asked to no one in particular.

"I think I know." Luke said. "There's a hidden room in the school. I saw inside."

"What's in there?" Maria asked, turning to Luke.

"I've got a theory. Mr Smith could help." Luke said.

"Okay, call him out." Penny said.

"Who's that? Your dad?" Clyde asked.

"Mr Smith, I need you." Sarah Jane said.

Mr Smith opened up. Penny turned to Clyde. She had seen the fractures start to appear in his calm nature. She saw the way he reacted. He half-leapt back, half-watched with a smile. He was amazed.

"Good afternoon, Sarah Jane." Mr Smith said. "I trust Penny and Luke had a good day at school."

"Yeah, it was great." Penny said.

"Is that a computer?" Clyde almost screamed.

"Who's that?" Mr Smith asked. "Nobody." Sarah Jane said. "Mr Smith, Luke would like some help."

"Certainly." Mr Smith replied in his crisp tone. "Hello, Luke." Maria moved towards Mr Smith, losing interest in Clyde and becoming more interested in the computer.

"Hello, Mister Smith. Bring up our satellite image of London. Now plot the exact positions of every school put up by Coldfire Construction." Luke pointed at a section of the map. "Ealing, that's us."

Sarah Jane began to list off the places they had each place there was a site. It was Clyde who made the link first.

"The ends of tube lines!" he pointed out proudly. "If I'm allowed to speak."

"You have permission only if you're saying something useful." Penny said with a regal nod.

"This is real. All of it's real. The talking computer's real, the Slitheens are real."

"Now you're not being useful. Could you take everything in silently or leave the room so we can save the planet without needing to listen to you?" Penny asked.

She offered Clyde a smile to show him she was only joking but it did it's job and Clyde fell quiet to allow Luke and Sarah Jane to work on their map.

"Mister Smith, plot the position of every Coldfire building put up in the last eighteen months around the world."

"Accessing." Mr Smith said. A map of the world appeared on his screen and several dots decorated. Sarah Jane scanned them. They weren't all capital cities. In fact Sarah Jane struggled to make a link between them all. "They all have underground railways." Maria pointed out.

Sarah Jane turned back to the map and frowned. Maria was right.

"You don't have to thank me." Clyde said.

"We weren't." Luke replied simply.

"Oh, Langer, I believe my bro just burnt you." Penny joked.

"London, Barcelona, Washington DC, Santiago, Los Angeles, Sydney, Beijing, Moscow, Naples, Paris." Mr Smith listed.

"There has to be at least one Slitheen at each site." Luke predicted.

"Ten cities. Ten sites." Clyde breathed. "Call the army!"

"Oh right, because that always makes things better, doesn't it?" Maria snapped.

"It's not your job." Clyde replied.

"Only it is." Penny smirked.

"There's a cleverer way of going about things. But what's it all for? What are they doing? The secret room, what was in there?" Sarah Jane replied.

Luke had come to a sickening realisation as his mind danced over the memories of the room. He had remembered the room's equipment and what it clearly was for. He turned to Sarah Jane and looked straight at her, searching for forgiveness and reassurance.

"Sarah Jane. I've done something really stupid. A really bad social mistake. I told the Slitheen how to destroy the world." Luke murmured, having gone white.

.

The Slitheen prowled their control room with smiles. Everything was going to plan.

"I've input the boy's catalyst equation. Now it works perfectly. We'll take the night side first, build up the charge section by section. This is Glune Fex Fize Sharleveer-Slam Slitheen to all Slitheen units. Is everybody ready?" Mr Blakeman said with a loud laugh.

.

Luke was still distraught. He was looking guilt and could barely keep eye contact with the others. He felt so ashamed like he always did when he made a mistake.

"It wasn't working until I gave the the answers." Luke mumbled.

"Oh, Luke." Sarah Jane gasped and hugged her son. "It's okay, bro." Penny called, moving towards her brother.

Luke continued to think every step though, half silently but every so often saying a sentence. Maria herself had come up with something strange. Luke had said it was for storing massive amounts of electrical energy.

"But out candles when out and that's not electrical." Maria said.

"When the capacitors are charged up they act as transducers, converting heat and light into electrical energy. That's how the loop works, it's not connected physically." Mr Smith explained.

Penny and Maria both nodded, pretending to understand the theory completely.

"But what have underground railways got to do with that?" Penny asked.

"The system must generate enormous heat. The underground railways must act as a cooling system." Sarah Jane pointed out.

"Oh, I'm glad we got that sorted out." Clyde muttered sarcastically.

"People getting ill, food going off, that's the effect of living or working next to the capacitors." Sarah Jane added.

She was giving an confirming answer from Mr Smith. Penny had moved over to her brother and was trying to calm him down while Sarah Jane worked.

"With this system they can drain every last drop of energy from the Earth. Our school's the last link in the chain." Luke said, still feeling guilty he had made it possible.

"But it needs the whole chain all together to do that?" Maria questioned.

Luke nodded slowly.

Clyde smiled at Penny and suggested they bomb the school. He had an excited glint in his eye as if he actually believed it was an option. Penny shook her head but didn't say anything.

"If we could get in there, could you destroy the power system safely?" Sarah Jane asked."I think so." Luke said, not completely sure. "If we reset the system, shut it down for just a second. I'd need a cutting tool." "What about this?"

Sarah Jane produced her sonic lipstick. Luke nodded.

"How do we get past the Slitheen?" Maria asked, wondering if Sarah Jane had even thought about it.

"We bomb them?"

"Can you stop talking about bombs?" Sarah Jane asked. "You're as bad as Penny when she first started dealing with aliens."

"Oi." Penny cried, pretending to be offended. "I thought we should shoot them."

"Sarah Jane, I've just picked up this report on an American news channel." Mr Smith announced.

Everyone turned to face the screen as an America News reporter appeared on it. The words 'Breaking news' were on the bottom of the screen.

"Breaking news. There's a massive loss of power on the west coast of North America. Los Angeles has gone dark." the reporter said.

"It's starting." Penny breathed.

"And I told them how to do it. The day I was born I saved the world. Now I've helped to destroy it." Luke whimpered, sounding like once again, he was the terrified and confused Archetype.

Sarah Jane snapped into action. She looked at Penny and made sure her daughter was comforting Luke. They needed him to be at his best.

"Mr Smith, give me everything you've got on the inhabitants of..." Sarah Jane trailed off, pointing at Luke and Penny.

"Raxacoricofallapatorius." Luke and Penny said simultaneously.

"You're making that up." Clyde accused.

"Yep and we made up the Slitheens too." Penny replied sarcastically.

Sarah Jane ignored them. Penny had always been a bit cheeky. The girl had always been able to stay calm in any situation but, when she was with another children with a cheeky or jokey attitude, Penny took up that characteristic with a vengeance. Sarah Jane loved that about her daughter. When most people saw what they had, it aged them. With Penny it made her even more youthful.

"Any weaknesses? Anything we can use against them?" Sarah Jane requested.

Mr Smith began his work. Maria turned to Luke and began to comfort him.

"Anyone could have made that mistake."

"No, only he could." Clyde pointed out.

"Clyde!" Penny exclaimed. "Shut up."

"Well, duh. Let's have a high school musical moment. A group hug will sort everything out."

"Clyde, I just hope you remember _we're all in this together_." Penny smirked.

Clyde laughed at that. He patted Penny on the back. Luke was beginning to calm down, being disarmed by the fact that none of them had even made a serious move to blame him for what happened.

"You're right. As if a teacher could have worked out that diagram." Luke said.

Mr Smith stopped going over the creatures of the universe and brought up a news report. It was the same reporter and she had even more grave news.

"And the power loss is spreading westwards. China is now without power, and it may be only a matter of time before the effect spreads here." Then the lights went out where the woman was. "Oh."

The signal died and Mr Smith announced he had lost it.

"Anything on the Slitheen yet?" Sarah Jane pressed.

Mr Smith got back to work.

.

Everything was going on plan. Each of the other nine sites had finished their work. It was only London to go. Mr Blakeman thanked France, the last site to turn out their lights before theirs and then got to work. He threw orders at Mr Jeffrey who, still in his Slitheen form, galumphed about. It soon became clear that Mr Blakeman would be a lot quicker doing everything for himself.

.

The attic had been a buzz of energy before. Now it was almost silent as Mr Smith worked. The silence gave Clyde chance to take everything in. Aliens. The weird, half hidden, Penny Smith, her strange mother and two new children fought aliens. Clyde looked at them all with disbelief. He couldn't believe it. That morning aliens had been the production of dodgy films, now aliens were attempting to kill them. He had used to fancy Penny. He had thought she was sweet. He kinda still did. Her weirdness had stopped her from him asking her out. This weirdness kinda made her seem even more beautiful. When he had seen her in the park that night, he had been trying not to blush throughout their whole conversation.

"Mr Smith does like to take his time." Sarah Jane said, pulling Clyde from his thoughts.

"Come on." Maria urged.

Suddenly Mr Smith came back with answer.

"Raxacoricofallapatorians. Calcium-based life-forms." Mr Smith announced.

"Give us the weaknesses." Penny said.

Everyone had jumped to their feet the moment Mr Smith had spoke. Clyde found himself amazed the he was also caught up in the adrenaline. He was an into it as the rest.

"Weaknesses." Mr Smith began. "They are a naturally hardy race. However their bodies are notoriously hypersensitive to..."

The power went out. Everyone stared at Mr Smith's blank screen for a few moments and then they felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

.

Sarah Jane was staring down at the sonic lipstick. It had no power. Luke was looking at the wires and makings of Mr Smith but Penny knew that nothing could be done. "Penny did say we would be stuffed if the power went out." Luke said.

Penny pretended to wipe a tear from her eye and smiled proudly, "You got an expression right, Luke."

"Don't congratulate him. It's real. The end of the world, thanks to him." Clyde moaned.

Penny knew he didn't really mean it but he wasn't used to what was happening. Truthfully, her and Sarah Jane were the only people used to it but Penny wasn't going to say that.

"Will you shut up?" Maria spat, not knowing that Clyde hadn't really meant it.

Penny had her head resting in her hands. Sarah Jane looked at her for help, a plan.

"No Mister Smith, no sonic lipstick, no plan B." Sarah Jane summed up.

Penny nodded and looked at the others. Luke looked on the verge of tears. Clyde looked like he was caught up in the action and not ready to come up with a plan. Maria was comforting Luke and focusing on that.

"But we're the only people in the world who can stop this." Penny said. "Only us. Four teenagers and a journalist who everyone thinks is not all there. We're all that can save the world."

"And we will." Sarah Jane said, gaining motivation. "Time to go back to school."

.

They hurried down the stairs and were at the door when they finally let Clyde speak.

"Without the sonic thing we can't stop them. Plus they'll get us before we even reach there." Clyde said.

It was negativity they didn't need. They were already having their doubts about their plan; the group didn't need someone picking holes in it. Sarah Jane looked at him.

"If you can't say anything useful, go home."

Clyde searched the faces of Luke, Maria and Penny. He suddenly realised something: if they survived it then he was never going to have a normal life again. He was always going to have the memories of the creatures and the sense of enjoyment he was experiencing. He was never going to be able to look at anything else in the same way every again. Only those three would properly understand him; their ages and experiences matched. He suddenly knew he had to prove himself or lose the three teenagers.

"Wait! This morning, Jeffery, the Slitheen Jeffrey, he went mad when he nicked my bag."

"So?" Maria asked; they didn't need a waste of time.

Clyde turned to Penny and Luke, trying to force them to remember.

"What's a Slitheen gonna care about that? You saw him. He sniffed it. He was scared."

"It was your lunch. He sniffed your lunch." Penny pointed out.

"Well what was in your lunch?"

"Cold chip sandwich. I made it this morning. I wasn't going to eat anything from the canteen of death." Clyde laughed.

"So, the Slitheen are allergic to potato? Bread? Butter?" Maria asked, frantic.

"The Slitheen who attacked me was eating a sandwich." Sarah Jane said. "What was on those chips?" "Just salt and vinegar." Clyde remembered.

"Salt." Maria said. "If the Slitheen are made mostly of water, it would dehydrate them, like slugs." Luke reasoned.

Penny shook her head.

"No, they put extra salt in everything. Bread, butter. It's got to be something else." She turned to her brother. "What do you do to slugs?"

"It's got to be the vinegar." Clyde decided.

He looked at the others to see if they approved.

"Vinegar," Luke reasoned, "that's acetic acid. It reacts with calcium."

"Slitheen are made of calcium. I'm right, it's the vinegar." Clyde said.

Penny and Maria beamed at him to show him he was finally being useful. Sarah Jane turned and marched away.

"Kitchen!" she ordered and the teenagers raced after her.

.

Clyde didn't know where everything was so was standing in the kitchen as everyone rushed around him. Luke and Penny were looting the cupboards, taking out everything and anything that contained vinegar, and Maria was helping Sarah Jane find plastic squeezies to make spraying the vinegar easier.

"So what are we going to do, just stand there and throw pickled eggs at them?" Clyde remarked.

Luke smiled as he put the pickled eggs on the table, thinking he had finally do something socially right.

"I knew they were useful for something." Penny laughed, undoing the lid.

"I was joking." Clyde told them.

Sarah Jane put the empty spray bottles on the table and told the teenagers to get it all in. Penny nodded and began. Clyde looked at the bottles disapprovingly.

"Don't you have a water pistol or something?" Clyde asked Penny.

"I had no siblings." Penny said with a shrug.

Clyde realised that Penny had never really had any friends and guessed that fighting aliens was the reason. Penny handed Clyde a bottle of vinegar and a spray bottle. He began to help. When they were nearly finished, Luke looked at his mother.

"The car's not going to start. We'll have to run." the teenager pointed out.

His mother didn't seem to mind. Neither did Penny who actually smiled at the idea of a run.

"No everyone is UNIT fitness trained." Maria remarked, catching sight of Penny's smile.

The girl shrugged back in reply and left the room.

.

People were getting out of their dead cars and staring at the other drivers. The group had to swerve to avoid them in their running. Clyde was intent on asking questions. He was going to run into deadly danger and he wanted to know why and who with.

"Right, so all this alien stuff, you've been doing it for years?" Clyde asked.

"Not now, Clyde." Sarah Jane snapped.

"What, did you actually go up to the career guy at school and say, I want to defend the planet from alien invaders?" Clyde asked.

Sarah Jane pulled him to a stop so she could talk to him properly.

"It's a long story. If we survive, I'll be happy to tell you."

Suddenly the sky went dark. Everyone began to look around until Penny looked upwards. She elbowed Luke in the ribs and he looked up. Everyone else followed suit. The sun was blue, looking like it had gone out.

"What's going on?" Clyde asked.

"It's transduction, like the candles." Luke explained, not taking his eyes off the amazing sight above them.

"They've switched off the sun." Maria gasped.

"No exactly. They're converting all the energy that reaches our planet. Still lots but the sun is still heating the other planets. The Venusians will be happy about that." Penny said with a nod.

"It's getting cold." Maria said.

"Yeah, we're all going to freeze unless we stop it." Penny replied calmly.

"We've got about thirty two and a half minutes." Luke said.

"About?" Penny exclaimed. "That's pretty precise." "Everyone's going to die." Clyde murmured.

"I told you, we're going to stop them." Sarah Jane replied with determination.

"What? The five of us with vinegar in plastic squeezies?"

.

Carl frowned as he spotted the group of five moving across the car park. He made the camera zoom in on Sarah Jane.

"Daddy, she's come back." Carl moaned.

"So what? She's an old woman with a funny lipstick. End of." Mr Blakeman snapped.

"My hunt!" the boy protested. "I want my hunt."

Mr Blakeman considered it for a few seconds. His son loved hunting and the woman was probably no danger. Yet the children had escaped him once before and he didn't want them to again. They were so close.

"I think an adult had better deal with them this time." he said and unzipped his forehead.

.

"They let us walk right in here." Clyde remarked as they scanned the empty tech block.

"Makes a nice change from breaking and entering." Penny smirked.

Luke put an end to their conversation with a sensible comment.

" It's a good thing too because we want to be in here. The secret room?" Sarah Jane said, addressing Luke.

Luke pointed down a corridor showing the way. Sarah Jane gasped as a massive Slitheen walked down the corridor towards them. It was Mr Blakeman, his voice made it clear when he talked.

"Oh, human children. The stench of Haribo and chicken nuggets."

"Humans are meant to taste like pork." Penny remarked. "Not chicken."

Sarah Jane cast her daughter a slightly annoyed look and then focused her attention in the alien once again.

"Get off this planet." Sarah Jane commanded.

"Hush now. It's time to hunt. The hunt is an instinct with us. The only way to keep our food safe in the days when the Baaraddelskelliumfatrexius beasts wandered the plains of Raxacoricofallapatorius." the Slitheen said.

Clyde pulled a confused face. Penny wondered how new everything must feel to him. His whole world had changed in the process of a day. People had snapped after much less.

"They're sort of like giant squirrels. We killed them all centuries ago, but the hunting instinct remains." Mr Blakeman said, leaping towards the closest child which was Luke.

The boy leapt back just as Clyde, Penny and Maria raised the spray bottles at the Slitheen and began to spray thick mists of vinegar at it.

"Didn't like that, did you?" Clyde taunted as Mr Blakeman stumbled back from Luke.

"Vinegar." Penny laughed, taking the situation in her stride.

"Get back." Maria commanded.

Luke turned to Sarah Jane, knowing that the others would have to deal with Mr Blakeman. They were running out of time.

"Sarah Jane, this way."

"Penny?" Sarah Jane asked, wanting to make sure her daughter would be fine if she left.

"Go, mum. You do your bit, we'll do ours."

Sarah Jane and Luke disappeared down the corridor. Clyde, Penny and Maria continued to spray. Suddenly the nozzle on Clyde's spray bottle jammed. Penny and Maria looked at him and, as Penny moved to take Clyde's place, her vinegar was knocked onto the floor where it began to leak. Maria pulled both Clyde and Penny against the wall as Mr Blakeman lunged at them. He almost Clyde across the chest. The teenagers had no where to run and Maria was the only one of them who could use vinegar against Mr Blakeman. She wasn't sure if she could.

"Keep back." Maria ordered.

Mr Blakeman moved closer. He began to stroke one of his claws over Maria's cheek, taunting her. Her hands were shaking. She didn't want to use the vinegar against Mr Blakeman.

"You're afraid. A Slitheen girl your age would do it. Wouldn't think twice. But all the fight has gone out of you. You just stand there shaking in your shoes. That's why we survive. That's why you're losers. All of you on this rubbish planet. That's why we win." Mr Blakeman taunted.

Maria suddenly couldn't take it any more. She ripped the lid off the spray bottle and threw the contents over Mr Blakeman. He screeched in pain and every last drop of Maria's vinegar covered him. Clyde had the same idea and threw his vinegar at the head teacher. Suddenly the creature exploded. The trio were caked in green gunk. It dripped all over them. For a few seconds they stood there in silence and tried to work out what to do. Then they let laughter take the silence's place.

"Oh, great." Clyde said, examining his clothes.

"I did it. I exploded the Headmaster." Maria laughed.

"At least he can't exclude you for it." Penny joked and patted Maria on the back.

.

Mr Jeffrey and Carl suddenly felt a wave of pain rush over them. It wasn't a fiery pain; it was dull and over in a second but they realised what it meant. They scanned the CCTV and their eyes settled on Penny, Maria and Clyde standing over a pile of green gunk and trying to brush it off their clothes. "It's Glune. He's been vinegared." Mr Jeffrey whimpered, turning to the microphone Mr Blakeman had been talking into a few minutes before. "This is Kist Magg Thek Lutovin-Day Slitheen calling the Family. We are under attack. Glune Fex Fize is dead. Emergency Plan A. All operators here, now."

The rest of the family beamed in. They were wearing their skin suits and were from every race and country. They had stern expressions on their faces.

"They're here." Mr Jeffrey smiled.

Suddenly the door to the secret room was opened. The Slitheen family reacted like whiplash, grabbed the two intruders. Sarah Jane and Luke both began to struggle as they were dragged into the room.

"And so are our uninvited guests." Mr Jeffrey laughed. "Behold, the capacitor. We drain the energy into these and store it. In ten minutes this planet's atmosphere gets snatched away, but we'll be safe and warm in here."

He gestured all around the room with pride. Luke and Sarah Jane both struggled to take everything in even though Luke had seen it before. It was so vast and complex.

"And then a spacecraft picks us up and we sell everything we've collected." Janine taunted.

She was holding Sarah Jane. A Slitheen in a skin suit they had never seen before was holding Luke.

"Why are you doing this?" Sarah Jane tried; she needed to find a way of convincing them to stop.

"The Family came here once before, just a routine job, but they never came back." Janine explained.

"I think I might know what happened." Sarah Jane said, thinking of the Doctor and how his companion had mentioned Slitheen. "Who happened." she corrected herself.

"This planet will pay in blood! They were our family." Mr Jeffrey roared.

"You're threatening mine!" Sarah Jane spat.

Suddenly Sarah Jane wasn't so sure if Penny would be safe. She wished she hadn't left Penny and the others alone against that Slitheen.

"This will give us a new beginning. My son won't have to live like I've had to, cringing in the darkness." Mr Jeffrey said.

"And I want my children to live, to grow up. I want what's best for them."

It was clear the Slitheen were parents so Sarah Jane knew that the only way she was going to even possibly get through to them was to talk to them, one parent to another.

"Your stupid son gave us what we needed!" Mr Jeffrey laughed, looking at Luke.

Luke suddenly began to struggle harder.

"I didn't!" he shouted.

Mr Jeffrey looked at him confused. Luke continued.

"I thought I did, but I didn't. You made the mistake. When you showed me the diagram, you didn't tell me that you was going to steal power from the sun. It'll explode!"

Janine wasn't so sure, accusing Luke of bluffing. When Luke revealed that he didn't understand what a bluff was, Janine suddenly lost her confidence. "The boy might be right." she stammered.

Suddenly the machine began to explode. All the Slitheen leapt back and Sarah Jane tried to shield Luke. She couldn't get between her boy and the sparks so simply hoped none would hit him.

"It's happening. Turn it off!" Sarah Jane tried.

Three new faces entered the room: Maria, Clyde and Penny. They had their spray bottles raised and pointed them towards the Slitheen hold Luke and Sarah Jane.

"You heard her, turn it off. There's vinegar in this." Clyde said.

Janine smiled and pushed Sarah Jane into the hands of another Slitheen. She grabbed Clyde and restrained him.

"Water." she spat and turned to Luke. "That's a bluff."

Soon the girls were both being held by Slitheen.

"I knew it wouldn't work." Maria grumbled.

Penny shrugged and told her it was worth a shot. Annoyed at the childish interruption, Mr Jeffrey turned to Luke.

"If I reset the system, you can cancel the overload, make it safe?" he asked.

Luke nodded. He seemed nervous at first and then became sure.

"Right." Mr Jeffrey nodded and turned to Carl. "Son, reset the system."

The boy pulled on a lever. Penny watched the screen as the power went up. She wanted to be sure that the Slitheens weren't tricking them. She nodded at her brother when the lights went on over CCTV.

"It's reset. The system's off. Now I just have to synchronise the mega-wattage." Luke said and then looked at everyone. "Now!"

The humans freed themselves and put distance between them and the Slitheen. The Slitheens began to cry out in their confusion. The Slitheen thrashed around for the humans but only succeed in separating Luke from the others.

"MUM!" Luke cried instinctively because calling Sarah Jane mum just seemed right.

"Luke!" Sarah Jane called back, throwing her sonic lipstick to the boy.

Mr Jeffrey realised that suddenly the humans had become a great threat. He began to hunt down Luke.

"Get him!" he called.

Luke raced through the machinery, using the sonic on anything he was close to. He managed to cut several wires but didn't stop because the Slitheen were getting close.

"It's going to blow up!" Janine shouted.

"Out, now!" Sarah Jane ordered as Luke and the others ran up to her.

They moved out of the room and left the Slitheen inside.

.

Jeffrey and Carl were trying to get out when the door shut on them. Sarah Jane and the others stared at them. Penny moved between the Slitheen and her brother because Luke had destroyed their machine.

"You can't leave us in here. Use your sonic device, open the door. Open the door!" Mr Jeffrey shouted.

"I'm only twelve." Carl begged.

Sarah Jane looked at Penny. She remembered when her daughter had been twelve and the child's innocence. It was heart breaking. She got her sonic back off Luke and was about to open the door.

"You can't let them out." Clyde protested.

"They don't deserve to die." Penny murmured.

Suddenly there was a blaze and the two Slitheen were gone. The door closed on them. Silence overwhelmed the group and then the lights flickered on. Penny patted her mother on the shoulder and began to lead her away from the door.

"Oh, look, the lights are coming back on." Maria remarked with a smile.

"The machine burnt itself out." Luke replied as he turned away and began to walk down the corridor with Maria.

Clyde was left standing there, staring at the door. Suddenly Penny appeared by his shoulder.

"It was either them or us, right?" Clyde murmured.

Penny nodded sadly and Clyde followed her down the corridor.

.

They were all in the lounge of Sarah Jane's house. Penny had made them all drinks and they were all relaxing. Sarah Jane was on the phone while the teenagers talked through what they had just experienced.

"Some of the Slitheen out away." Clyde said. "I saw them vanish."

"Good for them." Penny said.

"The machine is useless now." Luke added, sitting on the sofa. "We broke the chain."

"Except there's buildings round the world with secret rooms and all that alien machinery inside." Maria pointed out.

Sarah Jane finished with her phone call and took a drink from Penny.

"Did you give my love to the Brig?" Penny asked.

"As always. But he's expecting a report on the whole situation." Sarah Jane said. "UNIT are going to sort out the machine.

"What's UNIT? A furniture shop?" Clyde asked.

There was a knock on the door and Luke went to go and get it.

"UNIT are Penny's bosses." Maria said with a smirk.

"They aren't my bosses." Penny said. "More like baby sitters."

Then Luke came in with Chrissie and Alan. He winced as if to apologise for letting them in. Penny smiled slightly. Chrissie ran right up to Maria and put her hands on her daughter's cheeks.

"Where were you? Come here. Oh where've you been?" Chrissie asked.

"We just went up town, grabbed some burgers." Maria lied with a smile.

Chrissie continued to ramble and Penny and Luke quickly excused themselves from the situation – although it was more like Penny excusing herself and dragging Luke upstairs with her. Then Chrissie turned to Sarah Jane.

"Oh, Sally Anne, bless you for looking after my Maria. My head was full of terrible things that could have happened."

Alan let Chrissie leave the room and put his arm around Maria, joking about her being a useless liar. They all knew he wouldn't push it any further than that. The Jacksons left, leaving Sarah Jane and Clyde both standing in the lounge alone.

"Penny makes a nice cuppa, doesn't she?"

"Yeah." Clyde said in a dreamy tone. "Never thought she would ever be doing something like this."

"I never thought I would ever be doing something like this either." Sarah Jane countered, reminiscing.

"But you never told me. How did you discover all this stuff, aliens and things?" Clyde prompted.

Sarah Jane smiled and took a seat on the arm of the arm chair. She looked straight at Clyde and clasped her cup of tea with a smile.

"I met this man, called the Doctor. He was an alien, too." she began.

"Like a big green thing?" Clyde exclaimed.

"No." Sarah Jane laughed, struggling to imagine the Doctor as a Slitheen. "He looked just like you and me, except he was nothing like you and me. He took me out into space far away from Earth."

"You travelled in space?"

"And time. I saw planets and galaxies and all sorts of creatures, things you would never imagine." Sarah Jane managed.

"This Doctor sounds cool. Is he Penny's, you know?"

Sarah Jane looked confused. Clyde frowned. The subject was awkward to talk about. The woman silently prompted for more.

"Dad?" Clyde finished.

Laughter filled the air. Sarah Jane shook her head with an amused smile on her lips.

"Oh no. No. Penny's dad was human. He was an amazing man. He taught me that I didn't have to stop what I was doing just because I couldn't go with the Doctor any more. We were going to start a family together. Never stop what we did but... I suppose I carried on because of him. Him and the Doctor."

"And he was killed by an alien?" Clyde pressed.

He didn't want to press too deeply but he knew he had to get everything straight in his head.

"Yes. Two weeks before Penny was born. We were due to get married long before then but we put it on hold for Penny's birth and then... Life's precious, Clyde. Remember that. And keep asking questions because that'll get you answers."

"Sarah Jane! Penny's got a call from a man called Captain Jack Harkness." Luke called down. "He says he wants to talk to us as well."

"He's gone back to calling you Sarah Jane?" Clyde exclaimed. "It should be mum."

"Do you think?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Yeah. Tell him."

"I don't know how." Sarah Jane whimpered.

.

Sarah Jane and her children had left the room for just a few seconds to read a set of figures from a book to Jack. They had left Clyde in the attic alone. He turned to Mr Smith and raised an eyebrow. He began to press buttons, trying to work out how the computer worked.

"Diagnostic checks completed. All systems are functioning normally." Mr Smith announced.

"Where are you from?" Clyde asked.

"All systems are functioning normally." Mr Smith repeated.

Clyde continued to press random buttons. Suddenly Mr Smith electrocuted him. Clyde pulled back in shock.

"Beware your curiosity, boy." the computer warned.

Clyde considered running to one of the others and telling them but it would only get him into trouble anyway. He moved away from the computer when he heard voices and laughter coming up the stairs.

"Freak weather conditions?" Maria suggested, entering the attic.

"Bubble Shock chemicals altering the atmosphere's visibility levels and the levels of energy conversion?" Penny laughed, pointing straight at Luke to show it was his turn.

"Temporary reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles?" Luke tried.

Sarah Jane nodded approvingly and told Mr Smith to start the rumour about what had happened. Clyde looked at them all confused.

"I can't believe we can't tell anyone." Clyde said. "We should get millions for what we did today."

"If we told people what we did then none of us would be able to live normal lives." Penny pointed. "And your mum would be in danger."

"I would be able to protect her. I worked out the vinegar. If it always this easy then..."

"Easy." Maria scoffed. "You know what, you better go to the bus stop."

"Maybe his head will have deflated by tomorrow." Penny laughed.

Clyde turned to leave and then turned back. He smiled at the Smiths.

"You were right. This is great. Weird, but great. And you lot need me. I can't believe you were going to save those Slitheen. They tried to destroy the entire planet. Billions of people. What was the big dilemma?" Clyde smiled.

"Bus stop." Penny said, pointing towards the door.

Clyde suddenly clamped his hands on Luke's shoulders.

"You were good. And if anyone says you're not cool, I'll set them right." Clyde assured Luke, shaking hands with him and patting him on the back.

Clyde and Maria left and Penny and Sarah Jane turned to Luke.

"Clyde's right. You were amazing." "Again." Penny pointed out.

"I nearly destroyed everything." Luke moaned. "I messed up."

Sarah Jane shook her head.

"I messed up. New block, the strangeness of it? Of all people, I should have seen it. Instead, oh, I sent you two and Maria right in there and that was nearly the end of both of you." Sarah Jane smiled.

"We're still here, mum." Luke reminded her.

"And we always will be." Penny smiled.


	5. Pool side

"Come on, Luke, it's fine!" Clyde called.

"You're great at everything else, bro." Penny laughed.

"Just jump, Luke." Maria smiled.

Luke gingerly dipped his foot into the water. The three other teenagers were the only ones in the pool. Penny and Sarah Jane had used their UNIT sway to have the pool closed so Luke could learn to swim without fear of his belly button, or lack of it, giving him away. The pool they had chosen was high tech. The pool was heated. The place was temperature controlled; the windows would open if it got too hot and the blinds would open up if needs be. Everything was automated. Sarah Jane was standing by the side, watching Luke with a compassionate smile on her face. She was trying to tell him everything would be alright.

Penny had taken to water like a fish. She had only needed a few UNIT swimming lessons before she could swim well and had become a very strong swimmer. Luke was a fast learner but he would only be able to swim if he tried. Luke wouldn't be able learn to swim with other children so it was up to the three teenagers to teach him.

"Luke, there's a Bane behind you!" Penny screamed, pushing herself backwards through the water.

Luke leapt into the water in a shot. Clyde and Maria turned to Penny and paused. Then the teenagers laughed. Sarah Jane looked at them.

"That was a cruel trick, Penny."

"Got him into the water, didn't it?" Penny replied to her mother. "Clyde, race you to the other side of the pool."

Penny pushed off and Clyde followed her. They disappeared through the water and towards the other end. Luke watched them go.

"By the end of the today, you should be able to do that." Maria remarked to Luke.

The boy was still watching his sister and friend swam the length of the pool.

"Okay, Luke, grab the side and start kicking as hard as you can." Maria instructed. "Get your legs up."

Sarah Jane watched as Penny, Clyde and Maria swum up and down, demonstrating how to swim. Luke was watching them intensely. Suddenly a young man walked in. He was dressed in a lifeguard's uniform. He looked into the water and Penny stopped swimming to check that Luke's missing belly button would not give him away. It was thankfully below the water line. She smiled. "Hello. Um, this is a government training session. My ID is..." Penny trailed off. "Our instructor has her ID."

Sarah Jane produced her UNIT card. It was rather old but no one out side of UNIT would be able to tell that it had expired years ago.

"Okay, would you like me to give you a few lessons?" the young man asked.

"What is your name?" Sarah Jane asked.

"My name is Conner Newman, Miss Smith." the lifeguard said.

He had black hair and dark brown eyes. He looked very handsome. He smiled at the children.

"Mr Newman, my trainees are doing training work. Their identities are secret so I would prefer it if you left." Sarah Jane snapped.

Conner looked at the children and then let his eyes settle on Penny and Luke. Penny moved between the lifeguard and her brother just in case he was going to notice the difference Luke had. Sarah Jane took Conner's shoulder and steered him away from the children.

"Bro, go on, swim." Penny said.

Luke looked at her shell shocked. He had never swum. He had only watched the others and kicked his legs up and down like Maria had suggested. Clyde looked at Luke and then frowned.

"Maybe we should book the pool for a few more days." Penny said, swimming to the side and climbing onto it.

She sat down and looked up at her mother who was returning.

"This would work so much better is Luke just tried it." Penny remarked. "I know he's worried about messing up but..."

"I'll call the Brig. I'm sure he'll let us use the pool for a bit longer. Maybe we should make sure that there are no lifeguards." Clyde swum over and climbed up onto the side. He sat next to Penny.

"I thought you told us that there would be no one else here." Clyde pointed out.

Sarah Jane nodded as if remembering what she had instructed to the UNIT group. Maria walked over with Luke. He still refused to swim. "Okay, you lot, get changed. I'll meet you outside."

Penny smiled at Maria.

"You're a good swimmer." Penny told Maria.

"You're not too bad either." Maria replied.

They were drying their hair, Penny using a towel, Maria a low powered hair drier.

"Penny, does Luke fancy anyone?" Maria asked after a few seconds of silence.

Penny was surprised by the question. She had realised that Maria had had a thing for Luke since the Bubble Shock incident but had thought that Maria would take a little longer to be considering asking Luke out.

"Maria, Luke doesn't understand what fancying someone is. I don't think he fancies someone yet." Penny laughed.

"Of course not." Maria remarked, happily.

Penny watched her for a few seconds.

"So do you fancy... Um... Anyone?" Penny asked.

Maria looked Penny straight in the eyes.

"I know you fancy someone." Maria replied.

Penny felt her cheeks redden. She should have known that Maria would be the first to work out her little secret. Luke certainly wouldn't, nor would her mum, and Clyde hadn't been there long enough to notice the change in Penny. Maria had. Penny dressed a little differently, not exactly more feminine but definitely in clothes that made it easier for her to show off her gymnastic grace. Penny skateboarded everywhere now, or ran doing tricks. It was all to show off to someone Penny was desperate to impress.

"And I think I know who." Maria continued.

"Well, I know that you fancy Luke." Penny smirked.

"How did you know?" Maria asked.

"It was obvious."

Penny looked at her watch that she had replaced on her wrist. Maria had often found herself wondering if Penny's watch was like her mothers but there had been nothing to prove it.

"We better not keep mum and the boys waiting." Penny said.

Then she face-palmed. She looked at Maria and told her that she had forgotten her jacket.

"I'll catch up." Penny assured her.

"Okay." Maria said and left the changing rooms.

Penny searched around and found her jacket. She was pulling it on as she left the changing rooms. That was when she walked straight into a handsome boy her age with blonde hair. He smiled at her and Penny tried to edge past him. She was flirted with enough at school.

"I'm kinda in a hurry." Penny told him.

"And where are you hurrying to?" he asked.

"My superior. I was here training. The pools are closed to the public today."

"My older brother brought me in to help him."

Penny pieced everything together in her head.

"So you must be Newman's younger brother. The pools will be closed off tomorrow so..."

Penny turned away but secretly glanced into the mirrored door up ahead to check the boy was gone. She was going down the corridor when a hand was clamped over her mouth and she felt two sharp pains in her neck.

Sarah Jane glanced down at her watch. Maria had come out ages ago and Penny was still nowhere to be seen. It was that Sarah Jane was beginning to worry but Penny was a capable girl who should have been out by then. She looked at Clyde, Luke and Maria.

"I think we should go and look for Penny." Sarah Jane said. "Okay." Luke nodded.

"Got it." Clyde said.

"Maria, show me where Penny was, Clyde and Luke, search the rest of the pool."

Clyde and Luke were scanning the corridors in search of Penny. Clyde was sure Penny wouldn't have fallen into the pool and found herself in trouble because she was a great swimmer. Luke was a bit more nervous.

"Why don't you like water" Clyde asked, sounding slightly distracted.

"Because, normally, I can make mistakes and they won't lead to my death but if I can't swim and I don't understand how like I don't understand how to be 'cool' then I could die."

"Luke you just need to try. Me, Penny and Maria would never let anything happen to you." Clyde assured him.

Sometimes he forgot how young Luke really was. The boy had not really experienced the world but it was easy to believe he had. Penny and Maria had more experience but they both seemed rather unsure about how to explain why they did normal things to Luke.

"But something might happen to Penny if we don't find her soon." Clyde muttered and hurried round the corner.

He stopped. Someone was standing over Penny. She was lying on the floor of the corridor.

"Oi, leave her alone!" Clyde shouted without a thought for his own safety.

He and Luke hurried forwards to Penny's side, frightening the figure away. Clyde continued to run after the figure but Luke stopped and knelt beside Penny. He cautiously began to check her over.

"She looks like she's suffering from blood loss. Slight but she's been panicked too." As he said this, Luke rolled Penny over a bit. "What are those?" he asked.

He was pointing to Penny's neck where there were two specks of blood. Clyde stopped chasing the figure and knelt beside Luke. He didn't like what he saw.

"Luke, do you believe in vampires?" Clyde murmured.

Sarah Jane had been called by Luke. He had said something about vampires and Penny being unconscious. Sarah Jane had turned up as Penny came round. Luke had helped the teenager sit up and let his mother examine the bite on Penny's neck.

"What happened?" Maria asked the boys.

"There was this boy standing over Penny and she was unconscious. I don't know what he did or whatever but..." Clyde said.

"We think he was a vampire." Luke told his mum.

Sarah Jane didn't believe in vampires. She knew Penny didn't believe in them either.

"It was Newman's brother." Penny murmured.

"What?" Sarah Jane exclaimed.

She didn't have time for vampires or lifeguards. Someone had just attacked her daughter and, with what they did as a hobby, there was a high possibility that it was an alien attack. She tried to create a list of all bloodsucking aliens.

"I was talking to him and he told me he was Newman's brother and then I went to leave and I felt something in my neck. I struggled but I... Vampires aren't real."

"Maybe we should go and talk to Mr Newman, maybe his brother can tell us what happened." Maria told the others.

Sarah Jane nodded. She helped Penny to her feet and the went off to find the lifeguard.

"Mr Newman?" Sarah Jane called, walking into the lifeguard's office.

She looked around. She had told Penny and the others to wait outside because she didn't want Penny to get attacked again if it was the fault of the lifeguard or his brother.

"Hello. I thought you would have left." Conner said.

"Mr Newman, my daughter was attacked a few minutes ago." Sarah Jane said slowly.

She moved round and looked straight at Conner. He smiled, carefully.

"Would you like me to get the medical kit?" the lifeguard asked, concerned.

Sarah Jane shook her head and explained that it wasn't fatal. It wasn't going to do any lasting damage if it went untreated.

"She claims your brother attacked her."

Conner looked up at Sarah Jane with a frown. His eyes were fixed on Sarah Jane and she could tell he didn't really understand what was going on.

"That's a great theory but I don't have a brother." Conner admitted, slowly.

Sarah Jane lead Penny upstairs. Luke had insisted in helping his sister up the stairs. Mr Smith needed to scan her. Clyde and Maria followed them up the stairs, concerned.

"What are we meant to do since Newman doesn't have a brother? I mean, who attacked Penny?" Maria asked as she went up the stairs.

"Mr Smith, I need you." Sarah Jane called. "Scan Penny."

"Immediately." Mr Smith said, a line of thin red lasers going out towards Penny.

They danced up and down her.

"So, lets take a vote, who thinks Penny has been bitten by a vampire?" Clyde asked, putting up his hand.

Luke raised his and then Penny shook her head. They had come up with a way to communicate between each other so Penny could correct him silently. She would cough or shake her head or point downwards to tell Luke to stop so he could act normally. "Who believes it's aliens?" Maria asked.

Penny and Maria both raised their hands. Luke watched Penny and then put his hand up. Sarah Jane didn't.

"What do you think it is then, Mum?" Penny asked.

"I think that we should wait until Mr Smith has completed the scans before we starting making assumptions."

The teenagers all nodded. Penny put her hand to her neck, caressing the neat spots.

"I have completed the scans." Mr Smith announced suddenly.

Sarah Jane nodded and looked at the compluter.

"And?" she prompted.

"Penny will suffer no lasting effects from the bite marks on her neck."

"Well that's good." Clyde remarked.

Maria shook her head and turned to Mr Smith, asking about short term effects.

"Penny's blood has been temporarily contaminated with an alien's."

"Which?" Luke asked.

"Insufficient data."

"Okay." Sarah Jane nodded slowly. "Give me a list of possibilities."

Mr Smith went silent to compile the list. Maria smiled and reminded everyone she had been right.

"What sort of alien hangs around a swimming pool?" Clyde questioned.

"What sort of vampire hangs around a swimming pool?" Penny countered with a smirk.

"An amphibious one." Luke suggested.

When Mr Smith announced he had twenty possibilities, Sarah Jane told him to take amphibious tenancies into the equation. In the end he came up with just one.

"Saturnyns." Mr Smith began. "Saturnyns are an alien race from the planet of Saturnyne that was destroyed. They are amphibious creatures and can convert others to their race by infecting them with their blood. Their amphibious nature means they have to take part in constant hydration."

"Like they were trying to do with Penny." Maria pieced together.

"They need to hide from the sunlight. They generally use perception filters to manipulate brain waves so they can hide. They have no reflections as the brain gets confused when seeing them in a mirror."

"That's why I couldn't see the boy in the mirror." Penny replied.

"Okay, we need to go back." Sarah Jane said. "If that creature wants to convert people then..."

"Anyone who goes into the pool could be in danger." Luke pointed out.

They returned to the pool. They expected the creature to be there but they only found Newman. He was in his office and Sarah Jane decided that she would need to talk to him again. She turned to Maria and Penny.

"You two, go off and look for the boy. Penny, take my sonic and check every bit of this building."

Sarah Jane didn't like the idea of Penny being left to fight the Saturnyns but she was the only person who could identify the boy.

"Okay, what will you, Clyde and Luke be doing?"

"We'll be seeing if Mr Newman is really what he says he is."

"Give him a good scan for me, Mum." Penny joked and wondered off with Maria.

Sarah Jane turned to Luke and Clyde. She smiled and lead the two boys into the office.

"Hello, Mr Newman." Sarah Jane said, with a smile.

"Hello." Conner replied.

"I'm here to talk about Penny."

Conner was eyeing Luke and Clyde suspiciously.

"You haven't got a belly button." he pointed out, looking at Luke. "When you were in the pool before, I saw you and you don't have a belly button."

"I assure you he does." Sarah Jane snapped.

"What sort of person doesn't have a belly button?" Clyde asked.

Luke noted Sarah Jane was looking at her watch.

"You're the alien busting government group."

"What did you just say?" Luke asked.

Conner repeated what he had said slowly, as if thinking Luke hadn't understood it. Luke knew what the man had said, he just wanted to be sure he was right before he did something really clever.

"But none of us ever explained what UNIT was and it's top secret." Luke said, simply. "You wouldn't know about UNIT unless you..."

"Happened to have come into contact with them in the past." Sarah Jane finished, snapping her watch shut. "Which you probably have done since you are an alien – Saturnyn."

"Very clever, Miss Smith. How long until the girl becomes one of us?"

"She won't." Sarah Jane stated. "Your son didn't have long enough with her to secure her change."

"His son?" Clyde exclaimed.

"Yes. The perception filter makes him look too young to be a father." Sarah Jane pointed out.

"You're really impressive, Miss Smith." Conner said. "I wonder how impressive you will be as a Saturnyn."

Maria watched as Penny soniced the lock on one of the doors with skill. It was clear she had used the sonic before.

"So... You're not turning into an alien." Maria remarked.

"Yeah, that's good." Penny muttered. "Saturnyns don't like sunlight. Our little friend is going to be hiding in somewhere dark."

"Somewhere damp too."

"Like mould." Penny smiled, turning back to Maria.

"Like mould." Maria agreed with a giggle.

Penny ducked her head into the room and looked around. She frowned.

"Nothing." Penny said.

"Are you sure?" Maria asked.

Penny looked over to Maria and shook her head silently, telling Maria that it wasn't clear. Maria nodded and they moved slowly backwards.

"Maria, when I say run, run through that door." Penny whispered, pointing towards the door at the end of the corridor.

The door was the closest to the two girls. The boy walked out and looked at Penny and Maria. Maria thought the boy looked very normal until he opened his mouth. A row of large sharp teeth faced them.

"Penny, is it time?"

"No, not yet." She paused. "What is your name?"

"My human name is Jacob."

"That's a lovely name." Penny said. "My name is Penny. This is Maria. Why did you attack me?"

"Because my species is going to die out unless I can convert a girl into our species." Jacob said. "And I have two prime specimens in front of me."

"Penny?"

"Yeah?" Penny whispered.

"Now?"

Jacob leapt towards Penny and Maria. An instinct caused Penny to drive her hand into the stomach of Jacob. He doubled over and held his stomach.

"Now!" Penny clarified.

Her and Maria raced towards the doors. When they got through, they looked around.

"Oh man!" Penny breathed.

Sarah Jane leapt back and Clyde and Luke leapt in the way.

"Leave her alone!" Clyde shouted.

In the end, Conner threw back Clyde and Luke. They knocked into Sarah Jane and they were all sent flying backwards. When they all stood up, Conner had raced from the room. Sarah Jane checked both boys, checking their necks. She wasn't sure how she was meant to explain to Clyde's mother if she brought him home as a vampire. Luke would be easier to explain if he became a Saturnyn but even then it would be tricky. Then Clyde looked around.

"Where's Newman?"

"He's gone. Luke, call your sister. We need to warn her and Maria." Sarah Jane called, running out of the room.

Maria and Penny had dived behind the door to an open cupboard.

"What were those teeth? Why could we see them but not his alien form?" Maria hissed.

"Probably some self-defence mechanism. Our brains are scrambled by seeing them but, when they sense danger, our brains show us the teeth." Penny answered.

Then the boy raced in. He stopped and began to scan the room for the two girls. Penny motioned for Maria to stay silent as she darted out and hid behind a seat. It was a seat that someone watching the swimming would sit at. The boy continued to look around the room. Maria realised that she was better hidden than Penny. She didn't like what her friend was doing. Suddenly, Penny soniced upwards, towards the ceiling. Maria watched.

'Low setting' Penny whispered, as she clamped her hands around the sonic to stop it from making too much noise.

"I know you're here." the Saturnyn boy said. "I just need one of you. You can take a vote, fight it out if you want. I just need one."

"You aren't getting either of us!" Penny called, continuing to work.

"Is that true, Penny?"

It was a new voice. Penny and Maria recognised it. It was Conner Newman. He was a Saturnyn too.

"They're refusing to come out, father." Jacob whimpered.

Suddenly Penny stood up. She was still pointing the sonic up into the sky. She was looking up at the ceiling. Maria gasped. It was clear Penny had needed to get closer to whatever was she sonicing but it had also meant the Saturnyn could see her.

"Come on." Penny growled through gritted teeth as the Saturnyns moved towards her.

When Conner hit into her, the sonic was knocked from her hand. Penny collided with the floor and Maria wasn't sure if the blow had knocked her friend out. At the least, Penny was dazed. Maria rushed out, only to be met with the boy smiling cruelly down at her, his sharp teeth showing.

It was Clyde who reached the pool first. Luke wasn't far behind and Sarah Jane was following him. They came to a stop at the entrance to the main room and gasped at what was going on. Penny was being held by her neck over the deep end of the swimming pool while Maria was struggling in the boy's grip.

"Let them go!" Luke ordered.

Sarah Jane walked forwards. She could see her sonic and was trying to work out what Penny had been attempting to do with it. The realisation hit her very quickly. She knew she could pull of Penny's plan if she could reach the sonic. She knew, however, that if she went for her sonic, the Saturnyns would attack the girls. "I did warn them that we only needed one." Conner spat, his sharp teeth grinding against each other.

Penny was hanging onto consciousness but it was clear she had some sort of concussion. She certainly couldn't be able to swim if Conner dropped her into the pool.

"Now you lot stay back or I'll let this one drown."

Clyde looked at Luke. The archetype was looking terrified. He was staring down into the water. Luke couldn't swim. There was little he could do to save his sister. Sarah Jane was edging round the pool, walking towards the sonic. The two boys were standing in the doorway, staring out over the water. Maria had her eyes fixed on Sarah Jane, hoping that the woman knew what she was doing. Conner had noticed it and didn't like the idea of a plan forming between the two.

Luke and Clyde stood there helpless. Clyde was the only one of them who could swim to the other side and rescue Penny if she was thrown in but he needed a distraction. Luke was too scared of the water. He knew deep down that there was nothing he could do and he hated it. It was even worse than the feeling of guilt he had felt when he realised what he had told the Slitheen.

"What a pity." he murmured and dropped Penny into the pool.

The girl disappeared under the water in a second. Sarah Jane cried out and then there was a splash. Everyone, including the Saturnyns, turned to look at Luke who had leapt into the pool. He was in the shallow end but his panicked splashes could have made it look like he couldn't stand in the water. Finally Luke stopped his panicking. He stood up in the water. His hair was dripping wet in front of his eyes but everyone could see the hopelessness in them. Then the hopelessness faded. Half way across the pool, Clyde was swimming towards Luke. He was moving slowly, helping Penny along but it was clear that the girl was out of danger. The two Saturnyns were angry.

"We still have one." the Saturnyn father said.

"You're right but the one you don't have was doing something when you found her. Can you tell me what that was?" Sarah Jane asked.

"She was pointing a device upwards." the Saturnyns answered.

"She was turning up the temperature so the blinds would open and the sunlight would come in." Sarah Jane explained happily.

She produced her sonic lipstick that she had retrieved while Luke had been splashing about and aimed it upwards. There were a few sparks and suddenly the room got very hot. The blinds slowly began to roll upwards. Sunlight danced across the room and everyone was bathed in it. The two Saturnyns screamed in pain. They pushed Maria away as they tried to escape the increasing wall of light.

"Run!" one of them bellowed.

"It burns!" the other screamed.

"I am so sorry." Sarah Jane whimpered.

They the two Saturnyns exploded in clouds of dust. Sarah Jane helped Luke from the pool and, while he helped Maria to her feet, she got Clyde and Penny out.

"Lets get home." Maria said. "I think we've had enough swimming after all that."

Luke quickly agreed and Penny, once her head had cleared, nodded.

Once they were back at 13 Bannerman road, the children relaxed. Penny, Luke and Clyde had towels draped over their shoulders and were sitting in the attic.

"So the Saturnyns didn't have any girlfriends," Clyde concluded, "so they decided to attack human girls. They turned them into Saturnyns and then continued the race."

"Penny would make a good alien." Luke remarked.

"You _make_ a good alien." Penny replied with a smirk.

She looked at the others with a grin. Sarah Jane told Penny not to joke about things like that but it wasn't much of a telling off. The woman seemed distracted, not completely focused on the children who were mucking around.

"Just remember that we still have a planet. They lost their home. They were only here looking for a life." Sarah Jane said.

"They were looking to hurt Penny and Maria." Clyde reminded her.

"Plenty of aliens live on this planet peacefully." Penny argued. "Just being different doesn't give them the right to attack us all."

"But you have to feel sorry for them." Sarah Jane said.

"I know. I'm sorry." Penny muttered. "We'll just have to teach Luke to swim later."


	6. Eye of the Gorgon part 1

**Yo, everyone it's me, Yay13. Firstly, I would like to say that I don't own the Sarah Jane Adventures which is sad. Secondly I would like to say that I'm sorry is there are mistakes and thirdly I would like to say that if there is a Doctor Who alien you would like to be put into this Fanfic then please PM about it. **

**Enjoy and please review. I like reviews.**

* * *

><p>Eye of the Gorgon!<p>

It was simply the sound of an owl's call that woke Mrs Randall. Normally the elderly woman would have drifted right back to sleep but she sensed someone in the room – someone who wasn't meant to be there.

"Hello, who's there?" she called into the darkness.

There was no reply but Mrs Randall's eyes settled on the woman in front of her. The woman was dressed in black, a piece of cloth covering her hair.

"The nun!" Mrs Randall gasped. "Help me! She's here!"

In her panic, Mrs Randall fumbled for the light switch. The nun kept staring at her, not moving closer. The elderly woman turned so she could find the switch of her lamp and flicked it on. A soft light spilled into the room and the nun was gone. Mrs Randall clutched her covers to her chin and kept whispering about the nun.

Penny scanned Clyde's lounge. She hadn't really been in Clyde's house before and she kinda liked the feel of it. Carla, Clyde's mum, was watching Penny with a smile. Clyde was upstairs getting ready. They were going to Lavender Lawns, a retirement home. A friend of Clyde's nan had seen a ghost or something like that and the group wanted to check it out.

"You're the first girl he's ever had round." Carla teased from the kitchen. "Bet he's embarrassed."

Penny couldn't see any reason Clyde would be embarrassed. His home was normal. There was normal furniture and family pictures on the walls. Joining the family pictures were a few bits of brilliant art work, generally pencil sketches. Penny noticed similar sketches on the table. Carla smiled as she walked in and handed Penny a coffee.

"I think that brother of yours is being a great influence on Clyde. He's reading more, saying that you never know when you might need to know something. He's also drawing a lot more." Carla pointed out, noticing that Penny's eyes had settled on the piles of paper that each had a drawing on.

Penny leant over and picked up a few of the drawings, eyeing them with a gentle smile.

"That's his hobby." Carla explained. "He doesn't think it's cool but he's..." "He does these? These are really good." Penny murmured, keeping her eye on them.

"I don't know where he gets his inspiration." Carla told Penny.

Penny knew. There were drawings of Slitheen and Mr Smith and Saturnyns. There were also scenes from their adventures: Penny and Maria running, Maria throwing vinegar at the head teacher, Sarah Jane using her sonic.

"And that girl, she's in nearly everyone." Carla said, pointing out a pretty girl that looked familiar to both of them.

"That's me." Penny smiled slightly.

Carla laughed and beamed with pride. That was the moment Clyde walked in. He saw Penny looking through his drawings and gasped.

"Um, Penny, what are you doing?"

"Clyde, these are great." Penny told him. "I never knew you drew."

"And neither does anyone else so can you keep it a secret?"

"Like all the other secrets?" Penny smirked, tapping a drawing of one of the aliens.

Carla nodded and got up. She told the children that they had better go and Clyde quickly took Penny out of his house before she noticed anything else that went against his cool guy persona.

Clyde and Penny slid into Sarah Jane's car. They sat in the back, letting Luke sit in the front with Sarah Jane.

"You took your time." Sarah Jane said, looking in the mirror back at Penny and Clyde.

"So this ghost?" Luke prompted.

After the adventure with the 'vampires' Luke had asked a lot of questions about the supernatural. Penny and Sarah Jane had done their best to explain without forcing their opinions onto Luke but their stories of fighting mythical creatures normally ended in them turning out to be aliens. The only one that didn't turn out to be an alien was the unicorn which turned out to be a horse that aliens had turned into a unicorn.

"A nun." Penny revised. "A nun that the residents keep seeing in their rooms at night."

"My nan and Mrs Randall go way back. She used to live next door until her old fellow died. Nan says there's no way Mrs Randall sees things or makes things up."

"And the other residents are seeing it too, right?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, bro." Penny confirmed.

Sarah Jane started up the car and began to head towards the rest home.

"But it's always at night in their rooms." Clyde said attempting to make it sound mysterious.

Luke studied Mrs Randall's room with fascination. The room was mostly full of pictures but Luke had the feeling that each one had a story behind them like the tools Sarah Jane had. Mrs Randall was a nice looking elderly lady who had smiled when she had seen Clyde and kept implying that Clyde and Penny were going out, remarking about how pretty Penny was. Clyde was blushing due to it. Sarah Jane was asking questions, trying to direct Mrs Randall's attention onto the ghostly nun.

"Nora Connelly saw her first. She'd been to the loo. Oh, dreadful trouble she has with her waterworks. Three or four times every night. She comes out of the bathroom and there she is, the nun, by her chest of drawers." Mrs Randall said.

Luke shot Penny and Clyde his confused look and Penny nominated Clyde to explain 'waterworks' to Luke.

"And what happened?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Well, she fainted clean away like a schoolgirl. No constitution at all. Surprised, the amount of times she's been married. Since then, most of us have seen her. Them that's not too ga-ga not to notice, anyways."

Clyde heard the word 'ga-ga' and winced. Instead of explaining it to Luke, he steered the boy over to the window. Luke looked out over the grounds and saw an elderly woman looking up at him. He stared down at her. She looked as if she could recognise him and then it was gone. She looked away and didn't look back, leaving Luke feeling forgotten.

"Thanks for your help, Mrs Randall." Penny said.

"Will there be a photographer?" Mrs Randall asked, hopefully. "You wouldn't think it, but I was in all the papers once. Miss Ealing of wouldn't think it, but I was in all the papers once. Miss Ealing of 1951. Miss Smith, has your daughter every thought of entering that?" "No, she hasn't." Sarah Jane said. "Um... I'll have to speak to the manager about the photographer."

The group turned to leave, Sarah Jane resting her arm on Luke's shoulder as he walked to her side. Mrs Randall wasn't about to let Clyde go that easily.

"While you do that, I've got a few little jobs for Clyde to do. Your grandma said you wouldn't mind. Your girlfriend can stay too if she wants."

Penny smirked at Clyde and then denied being his girlfriend. However she did agree to stay. Sarah Jane informed the two children where to meet her and then left with Luke.

Alan Jackson was making a cake. He knew that when the cake was finished Maria would endeavour to mock his attempt but for the moment it looked delicious. Alan found himself unable to put off remarking the point to the empty kitchen. That was the moment that Chrissie walked in.

"It's his own stupid fault. If he hadn't been spending so much time in the flaming office, I wouldn't even have thought of going to salsa classes, would I?" Chrissie said, alerting Alan to her presence.

He turned and looked at her with wide eyes. She was standing in the kitchen with a bulging suitcase.

"Salsa?" Alan repeated because it was politer than the other things dancing through his head.

"Ivan gets the hump, gets all possessive, and the next thing I know, Carlos is on the ballroom floor with a bloody nose." Chrissie exclaimed.

"Carlos?"

"Salsa teacher." Chrissie explained.

"So Ivan's got the push, has he?" Alan said, trying to work out what was going on and had led to his ex-wife standing in his kitchen with suitcases.

Chrissie's reply was cut off as Maria entered the kitchen and saw her mum.

"Mum!" Maria called, going in for a hug.

Sarah Jane had told Luke to explore the grounds while she talked to the manager. He didn't mind it much but the grounds were very confusing and he didn't know anyone there. There was a elderly woman walking towards him. Luke recognised her as the woman from before. She was muttering under her breath to no one in particular.

"The Colonel won't believe us, darling. But who would? Better to keep mum. Sad. Better that way."

As the woman drew near to Luke, she stumbled. Luke caught her like Penny and Sarah Jane would do every time they saw someone stumble.

"Are you all right?" Luke asked, concerned.

The woman nodded and smiled but still looked very flustered.

"Yes, yes, yes. Quite all right, thank you. Are you one of the one of the Colonel's chaps?"

"The Colonel? No, I..." Luke began but was interrupted by the woman.

"I'm Bea Nelson-Stanley. I'm looking for my husband, the Professor. He said to meet him between the paws of the. Oh, what do you call it, the blessed thing? Er, the Sphinx."

Luke had heard of the Sphinx. Penny and Sarah Jane had both seen it. Sarah Jane had seen it in her travels with the Doctor and had taken Penny there when she had been very young. Penny couldn't really remember it but she had told Luke where to find it.

"That's in Egypt." Luke informed Bea.

Bea paused and looked straight at Luke, as if remembering him.

"You're the boy in the window." Bea told him.

Luke nodded.

"My name's Luke. We were visiting Mrs Randall. She says this place is haunted by a nun. Have you seen her?"

Bea was suddenly scared. She looked at Luke with terror in her eyes.

"Yes, I have. And she's no ghost. There's something different about you."

Luke took a step back. Everyone warned him about what could happen to him if he didn't keep him being different a secret. Sarah Jane had told him about wars over differences, Penny had told him about some of the stuff UNIT had done, Clyde and Maria had told him about bullies. Luke didn't want any other those things to happen to him.

"Oh, don't be afraid. It's all right, I've seen unusual people before. Perhaps you can help me."

Luke was nervous but slowly he followed Bea.

Sarah Jane handed over a business card, smiling at the manageress. The manageress was called Mrs Gribbins. She studied the card with a frown.

"I understand you're looking for a good story, Miss Smith. Might I suggest you try Westminster for something rather more newsworthy."

"You don't believe Lavender Lawns is haunted, then?"

"One of the old dears has a nightmare, she tells her friend she's seen a ghost, then next thing, what do you know? They've all seen one. It's hysteria, Miss Smith. It's as simple as that." Mrs Gribbins said with a cruel smile.

Sarah Jane didn't like it. She knew she could say something to take the smile away and found it with ease.

"Perhaps. Or maybe it's a cry for attention." she smirked, enjoying the flash of anger in the woman's eyes.

Luke wasn't sure where Bea was leading him but he wasn't about to turn tail and leave her. She seemed scared and this was probably something to do with the nun.

"We have to be quick." Bea said, going as fast as she could go along the slightly uneven path through the grounds. "Luke, in case anyone's watching."

"Who's watching?" Luke asked, glancing around.

He didn't know what he was meant to be looking for; a nun probably, but it wasn't night time and the nun was only seen at night.

"The..." Bea stumbled across her words as if trying to remember one. "For goodness sakes." she muttered when she couldn't think of it.

She handed Luke her walking stick as she took the final steps towards a large old tree. Luke was aware that they had headed out of the view from the main centre, nearly on the outskirts of the grounds. Bea produced a tin box and looked down at it with fear in her eyes.

"I knew they might find me one day, but I couldn't be parted from it. Foolish old woman." Bea murmured, clicking open the lid of the box.

Luke looked inside. There was a large gold necklace with a swirling pendant and a large central blue stone. It was amazing. Bea stroked it gently and the stone began to glow. It hinted to Luke that it was alien.

"What is it?" he asked in a whisper.

Bea looked at him as she if had already given too much away.

"Never you mind. Just promise me, you will not tell anyone you have the talisman. And whatever you do, do not let her get it. Do not let her get it." Bea begged, closing the tin box and forcing it into Luke's hands.

Luke asked who but Bea simply told him to put it away. He slipped it into his pocket and turned back to Bea.

"But who's after you?" Luke asked, beginning to feel worried for the woman.

"Do I know you?" Bea asked, suddenly seeming to have forgotten Luke and what they had just done.

Luke wasn't sure what to do. Everyone around him forgot stuff but never like Bea had just done. Surely she could remember him? Luke followed Bea back to the main house and, as he was approaching, cautiously glanced in his pocket. He produced the box for a few seconds, just to check it was safe and then slipped it away.

He didn't notice Mrs Gribbins staring at him through one of the windows.

_She's given it to the boy!_ the manageress thought with a frown.

Maria was doing her homework with a smile on her face. She loved it when her mum was round, even if her parents weren't always the closest people in the world. When she heard a knock on her bedroom door, she looked up and saw her mum entering with a smile.

"Anything I can help with?" Chrissie asked.

"You and Maths? I don't think so..."

Maria had been about to add that she would probably have to take it round to the Smiths' if she couldn't work it out. Luke was always prepared to help.

"At school the only figures I was interested in were fellows' phone numbers. Maybe we can do something together after you've finished? Go into town, do some more maths on my credit card?" Chrissie joked, holding up her credit card.

Maria smiled but shook her head.

"I'd like to, Mum, but I said I'd go over Sarah Jane's later. They're working on a story and..."

"Sarah Jane's?" Chrissie exclaimed. "Maria, come on. I'm your mum. What are you doing, always off gallivanting with those weirdos over the road for?"

"They're not weirdos!" Maria argued.

Luke and Penny got called weirdos enough at school and Maria wasn't going to stand for it. Right, Penny was becoming popular due to her joining sports teams and Luke was making friends but some people were just small minded. Maria had not expected small mindedness from her own mother.

"It's weird how much time you spend with her. And there's something about that boy. I really hope you don't fancy him. I don't know what it is, but he's not right."

That was the last straw. There was nothing wrong with Luke; he was just different. Maria had half a mind to tell her mum the truth and say she did fancy him.

"Well, you don't know anything about them!" Maria shouted.

Chrissie tried to calm her daughter down but everything she said, Maria could pick holes in.

"Get out! Get out!" Maria shouted, sending her mother fleeing from the room.

Sarah Jane was waiting by the car when she saw Clyde and Penny approaching. The two were smiling and joking around like they always did.

"Why is it old people want you to do everything for them? Turn the mattress over. Move things around on the top shelf. Take that spider out the bath. I came here looking for spooks, not jobs." Clyde asked as he came over.

"Everyone gets old, Clyde." Penny reminded him.

"It's okay for you, Mrs Randall had you sitting there drinking tea and talking about boys."

"Yes, the horror." Penny said, dramatically putting her hand against her forehead as if she was about to faint.

"You'll be old one day." Sarah Jane told Clyde.

He shook his head.

"Ah, no, not me. Way technology's moving, by the time I'm forty I can get my brain put in a robot and live for ever." Clyde said.

Sarah Jane shuddered. She and her daughter had had some pretty bad experiences with robots like that. When Penny had been seven, a group of Cybermen had attacked UNIT and began to upgrade agents, Penny had nearly been taken and almost deleted when Sarah Jane had come to rescue her. Penny could remember that so didn't mind when her mother, almost as a reflex, moved protectively towards her.

"No, you won't." Penny informed him. "I won't let you."

"Why?" Clyde asked.

"Because I don't want you around forever. Future generations will have enough to worry about without adding you to the mix."

Then Luke walked over. He smiled as Penny playfully punched Clyde's arm. Luke had one hand in his pocket, clutching the box. He considered showing it to the others but he had promised not to show anyone.

"Where have you been?" Sarah Jane asked, sounding a bit concerned.

"Just looking around." Luke reported, climbing into the car.

Penny slid in beside him and smiled, asking him if he found anything interesting. Luke shook his head because he was sure that he would be able to lie to his sister with words.

"So what's the story, then. Is this place haunted, or what?" Clyde asked from where he was sitting next to Sarah Jane.

"I don't know." Sarah Jane informed him. "But there is something about this place I don't like."

She eyed Mrs Gribbins with a frown. The manageress' eyes were fixed on the two children in the back and, if Sarah Jane was anything, she was a very protective mother. Sarah Jane pulled out, wanting to get away from there as soon as possible. As they drove along, however, Luke was sure he saw a flash of black and white in the tree line, the black and white of a nun.

Maria heard another knock on her door. At first she thought it would be her mum, back for another attempt at calming her down but it wasn't. It was her dad.

"What's the problem?" he asked, knowing something was wrong.

"She doesn't like me seeing Sarah Jane and Luke. Like she knows anything about them."

"Don't worry, everything will be back to normal in a few days." Alan assured her.

Maria didn't want everything to go back to normal. She wanted her mum and dad to be back together and she made her feelings known.

"Maria, your mum and me, you know, that's all over."

"Well, that's great for you, isn't it. Some solicitor gives you a bit of paper and it's all over. But what good is that to me, Dad? She's always going to be my mum." Maria whimpered.

"I know that." Alan said.

"Well, maybe I want her to get to know my friends, so she doesn't think they're weird any more. And maybe I don't want her to go with Ivan, but that's never going to happen, because you've got a bit of paper!" Maria said and stormed out of her room.

Mrs Gribbins knocked on the door to St Agnes' Abby. The large wooden door was opened by a nun.

"I've come to see Sister Helena." Mrs Gribbins announced.

The nun nodded and lead the way in.

Sarah Jane walked into the attic and stood in the centre of the room. Clyde and Penny walked in behind her and stood round, Penny leaning against one of the columns in the room and Clyde standing near Sarah Jane. Luke came in last and sat down at the back of the room on one of the chairs.

"Mr Smith, I need you." Sarah Jane called.

"Yes, Sarah Jane." Mr Smith said.

Penny smiled at the computer.

"The Lavender Lawns Rest Home is apparently being haunted by a nun. I need you to access Central Land Registry database for me, and see if there's anything to historically support the possibility." Sarah Jane said.

"Of a haunting?" Mr Smith inquired.

"Just run the checks." Penny smirked, knowing that the computer was just as unbelieving of the idea of a haunting as her and her mum.

"Very well." the computer said.

"Doesn't Mr Smith believe in ghosts?" Clyde asked, moving forwards.

"Lets just say they tend to always turn out to be fakes." Sarah Jane said with a smile.

Or reporters trapped in a time loop and fruitlessly searching for the device that turns it off." Penny laughed. "That was just one time." Sarah Jane pointed out.

"But it was a good once."

When Clyde and Luke both shot Penny questioning looks, Penny told them she would explain later. Mr Smith interrupted their conversation by finishing his search.

"There is no record of any past ecclesiastical building on the site of Lavender Lawns." Mr Smith announced.

"So no obvious reason for the home to be haunted by a nun, then?" Sarah Jane concluded.

"I assume that by haunting you mean the projection of energies imprinted on psychic-assimilating matter."

"Obviously." Penny said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Come again?" Clyde asked, having no idea was most of that sentence meant.

He looked at Sarah Jane for an explanation but she passed that job onto Penny. Behind the group, unknown to them, Luke was getting out the necklace.

"Events get recorded on their surroundings, then, under certain circumstances, they get played back. Like a video player that is controlled by the weather." Penny said, glancing at Luke.

She noticed he was looking at something strange but there were lots of strange things in the attic and Luke loved to study them all. She thought nothing of it.

"Sarah Jane, are you aware that Luke has brought an unidentified element of alien technology into the attic." Mr Smith said.

Luke looked up horrified. He watched as everyone turned to him and knew he had no chance of hiding the talisman.

"Whoa, Luke! No way did that come off the Shopping Channel."

"He doesn't know what the Shopping Channel is." Penny told Clyde.

"Give it to me, Luke." Sarah Jane instructed like he was a toddler holding something dangerous, which in a way he was.

"One of the residents, Mrs Nelson-Stanley, gave it to me. I had to keep it a secret. Sorry, was that wrong?" Luke said, sounding worried.

He had never been in trouble with Sarah Jane before. He handed it over quickly.

"I don't know." Sarah Jane said, studying it. "Mr Smith, is it safe?"

As Sarah Jane approached the computer, it slid out a section for her to place the talisman on. While she did this, she glanced back at Luke who was being comforted by his sister and Clyde.

"Insufficient data. I'd like to carry out a detailed analysis." Mr Smith told Sarah Jane and began.

That was when Maria ran in and slammed the door. Sarah Jane turned to her and snapped out how she was going to damager the equipment. Then she noticed that there were tears in Maria's eyes and knew that she would need to talk to the girl. It became clear that Penny had picked up on them too because she glanced at her mum for guidance. "So, what's going on?" Maria asked.

"Some old biddy's given Luke an alien gizmo." Clyde said.

"And told him to keep it a secret." Penny added.

"She said the nun wasn't a ghost and now it's looking for the talisman." Luke finished.

Sarah Jane had just come up with her way of giving Maria space to talk.

"Well, I'd better go back and talk to Mrs Nelson-Stanley." She turned to Maria. "Do you want to come with me?"

Maria nodded. Sarah Jane turned to the two boys.

"You two stay here." she instructed.

"What about me?" Penny asked.

Maria looked at Penny. The two of them were best friends, she wanted Penny to be with her."

"She can come, can't she?" Maria checked.

"Yes." Sarah Jane agreed.

Clyde and Luke looked horrified.

"But she gave it to me." Luke protested. "And I brought you in on this. It's like my case!" Clyde moaned. "Why does Penny get to go?"

"I have a way with the elderly." Penny joked and moved towards the door.

Sarah Jane finished giving the boys instructions and then move down the stairs. Penny stopped Maria just as they were about to go down.

"Are you alright?" Penny asked.

"Mum's back." Maria said.

Mrs Gribbins stared at the nun in front of her. The nun was very beautiful but also very demanding. She wanted to know every detail and, as Mrs Gribbins concluded her story, the questions came.

"And you're sure it was the talisman?" the nun, Sister Helena, snapped.

"Absolutely. I saw her give it to the boy."

"Why would she give it to the boy unless she knew we were looking for it? You told us she barely knows her own name." Sister Helena pointed out.

Mrs Gribbins handed over Sarah Jane's business card with an announcement that she knew where to find the boy.

"All the same, we have paid you well for your assistance, Mrs Gribbins, but this just complicates everything. The Abbess will want to see you."

Sister Helena smiled at the idea of handing Mrs Gribbins over to the Abbess. The idea horrified the manageress. Two nuns appeared and grabbed Mrs Gribbins by the arms. They escorted her away and Sister Helena stood alone for a few seconds. Then she heard a scream that could have only come from the manageress. A smile toyed with her lips as she walked away.

Mrs Randall lead Sarah Jane, Maria and Penny into Bea's room. The room was full of framed photographs of different and exotic locations.

"Poor Bea, she can't really tell you anything, Miss Smith. It's the Alzheimer's, you know. Such a tragedy after the life she led." Mrs Randall said. "All those romantic places. I bet Clyde will take you to some of those." she finished, turning to Penny.

Maria shot Penny and questioning glance.

"She thinks me and Clyde are dating." Penny explained in a whisper.

"She's been everywhere." Sarah Jane said, studying the pictures. "Was this her husband?" "Archaeologist, so the nurses reckon. They went all over the world together." Mrs Randall explained.

"What happened to him?" Penny asked.

"He died about five years ago. Bea started to lose it after that. That's when she washed up here."

Maria picked up a picture and saw a familiar item.

"The talisman." she said, pointing at it.

Penny nodded to show her she was right.

"Talisman? I thought you wanted to talk to her about the ghost?"

"Possibly evil talismans and ghost stories go hand in hand." Penny said. "It's what the readers want."

That was when Bea looked in. She looked startled for a few seconds, seeing the strangers in her room but smiled.

"Do I know you? I'm sorry, these days I'm not very good with faces." Bea asked, lightly touching her forehead.

"This is Sarah Jane Smith, a reporter. Those two are her daughter, Penny, and Maria, her..."

"Work experience girl." Maria answered.

"Oh, oh, well, it's my husband you want to talk to, then." Bea replied.

"No, it's you I need to talk to, Bea. Can you tell me where you got this talisman?" Sarah Jane asked, showing Bea the picture that Maria had been looking at before hand.

Bea's eyes fell upon the man in the picture and she managed a weak smile.

"That's my Edgar." she murmured.

"Your husband?" Maria asked.

"Yes, he used to say the Sontarans were the silliest-looking race in the galaxy." Bea smiled, remembering.

Maria noticed that at the mention of the word Sontaran, Penny's attention was fixed on the old woman. Her hands screwed up into fists and her looked scared and angry at the same time. Sarah Jane offered her daughter a compassionate smiled before continuing to ask Bea questions.

"What did you say?" Sarah Jane said, just to check she wasn't hearing things.

"She's always going on about monsters and spacemen." Mrs Randall said, looking at Maria and Penny. "Some of those movies you get now-a-days can really mess with your head."

"She's seen Sontarans." Sarah Jane smiled, amazed.

"What's a Sontaran?" Maria asked, puzzled.

"A creature bred to kill and murder and fight. A being that enjoys war and nothing else." Penny spat.

Maria couldn't tell what had brought on such a reaction but it was terrible to see her friend that way.

"The silliest race in the galaxy, that's what Edgar used to say. Like a huge potato with a ray gun. Quite nasty blighters they were, all the same." Bea said.

"Yes, Bea, yes, they are. You are so right." Sarah Jane laughed.

She wasn't happy about the Sontarans; she knew the reason behind Penny's feelings of absolute hatred towards them. She was happy that Bea could remember all her adventures: to have a life like Bea's and then forget it all was horrible.

"You shouldn't encourage her, Miss Smith. She'll go on and on about monsters, and especially the Gorgon. I saw that years ago at the flicks with Christopher Lee and er, Barbara Shelley." Mrs Randall said.

At the meantion of the Gorgon, Bea suddenly looked very scared.

Luke and Clyde were trying to get readings out of Mr Smith so they could be of some use but he was half way through the scan and refused to tell the boys anything until he was done. Then the doorbell rung. Luke went to get it, Clyde following him. Luke opened the door to see three nuns standing on the doorstep. Both of the boys felt their hearts skip a beat. They didn't like that one bit,.

"Hello." Luke said slowly, trying to act normally.

"Hello, I'm Sister Helena from St Agnes's Abbey. And who might you be?" the nun at the front of the group said.

"He's Luke, I'm Clyde." Clyde said defensively.

"And which one of you fine young men were at Lavender Lawns today, and left with a gift from one of the old ladies?"

"We don't know what you're talking about." Clyde snapped.

"How do you know she gave me anything? She wouldn't have told you." Luke said, trying to copy Clyde and be defensive.

_How do Sarah Jane and Penny get Luke to work undercover?_ Clyde thought.

"Can it, Luke." he ordered.

Luke didn't stop.

"Why are you hunting through the old people's home looking for talismans?" Luke asked.

That was the final straw. Luke had told the nuns all they needed to know. "Luke!" Clyde shouted.

"Boys, you don't understand what you've got your hands on." Helena informed the boys.

"Well, you're not getting your hands on it either." Clyde spat back.

"Give me the talisman!" Sister Helena ordered, reaching out towards the boys. "Hello, Sister." Alan called, walking down the drive. "Collection, is it?"

Sister Helena turned to look at Alan as he handed over some money for their collection. She turned back to the boys, offered them a glare and then disappeared with the other nuns. Alan turned to Luke and Clyde.

"I was after Maria. She was a bit upset earlier. You haven't seen her, have you?" Alan asked.

"She want out with Sarah Jane and Penny." Luke told him.

"Okay. Look, do me a big favour, will you? When they get back, just tell her I was looking, okay?"

"Of course." Luke said.

"Cheers." Alan replied and walked off back to his house.

Clyde turned to Luke. He tried not to seem too disapproving but he had to make his point.

"Listen, Luke. When weirdo nuns turn up on your doorstep asking about freaky glowing alien gizmos, one thing you never do is tell them you've got one."

"I didn't." Luke said.

Which was true, he hadn't, but in Clyde's eyes he had pretty much done that.

"We should call Mum and tell her what happened." Luke added.

"We could go round there." Clyde pointed out.

"Isn't phoning quicker?" Luke inquired.

_Sometimes it's like hitting my head against a brick wall._ Clyde thought.

"Sure we could phone. Or we could go round there and get back in on the action, yeah?" Clyde said.

Luke smiled and closed the door, both boys making their way down the drive. In a car at the end of the road, Sister Helena followed them with a glare.

Bea was sorting through her records while Sarah Jane, Maria and Penny had a quick meeting at the back of the room.

"So, if Bea's wearing this talisman, and it's alien, and she's seen these Sontarans, she isn't just talking about a bunch of old horror movies, like Mrs Randall thinks, is she." Maria concluded.

"Can we stop mentioning the Sontarans?" Penny asked, annoyed.

Sarah Jane and Maria both nodded.

"Aliens have been coming to Earth for centuries, Maria. Now maybe Bea's adventures with her archaeologist husband involved a lot more than just old pots and bones." Sarah Jane said.

Penny moved away to look at the pictures again to see if there was more evidence of aliens. Maria held Sarah Jane back as she went to follow her daughter.

"Why doesn't Penny like Sontarans?" Maria asked.

"One day I'll tell you." Sarah Jane promised.

Maria nodded and then music filled the room. Bea had put on a record and began dancing round the room.

"This was our song." Bea told the three reporters. "Edgar had such a lovely voice."

"I'm sure he did." Penny said, soothingly. "He must have been quite a man."

"It's so sad. The things she must have seen, and now everyone just thinks she's crazy." Maria considered.

"Yeah, well, who knows where any of us will end up?"

She looked at Maria and Penny and just hoped that those two didn't end up alone, like Bea or like she had been.

"But someone doesn't think you're crazy, do they, Bea? Someone knows what the talisman is and they want it."

"The talisman?" Bea pondered as if she was remembering things.

"Yes, Bea. The talisman. Tell me what you know. I promise I'll believe you. Sometimes people have thought I've been mad, but I've seen things too, like you." Sarah Jane said.

"Things most people won't believe." Penny clarified.

"Edgar unearthed it in a dig, in, in Syria, and he gave it to me. And he had no idea what it was. He had no idea." Bea said, remembering back, sounding scared.

"So what is it?"

"They mustn't find it. They mustn't find it!" Bea gasped, shaking.

Penny went to help her stand but Bea batted her hands away.

"Who, Bea?" Maria asked.

"Who do you mean?" Penny added.

"The sisters!" Bea half sobbed. "They protect her."

"Who?" Sarah Jane asked.

"The Gorgon."

Sarah Jane stood in her lounge. She briefly wondered where the boys had got to but she knew it didn't really matter. They were probably out at the park or something. Penny was searching through the book shelf.

"Here we go." she said, producing a book on myths. "You used to read it to me every night."

Sarah Jane nodded, remembering how much Penny had loved those stories.

"And it's all in there?" Maria asked.

"Yeah." Penny nodded.

"A Gorgon, all snakes for hair and turning people to stone by looking at them? It's a fairy story, isn't it?" Maria said.

"A myth. A Greek myth. There's a big difference. And incidentally, for future reference, Maria, even some fairy tales have a foundation in fact. Here it is." Sarah Jane corrected, flicking through the pages of the book.

"There were three Gorgons, the hideous daughters of Phorcys the sea god and Ceto." Penny remembered. "Stheno, Euryale and Medusa."

"That's right." Sarah Jane said, checking it in the book. "But in some versions of the story there was just one. Medusa. And she wasn't always ugly. She was a beautiful nymph with golden hair, but Poseidon fell in love with her and jealous Athena turned her into a Gorgon."

"Medusa was killed by Perseus as a challenge."

"The Greeks were always dishing out challenges to each other. I think it must be a man thing. But this one really had to be a tough call. Warrior after warrior had tried to slay the Gorgons, but all of them turned to stone." Sarah Jane explained.

"Because they had to look at them to kill them." Maria finished.

"Only if they were thick." Penny said, smirking at the mirror hanging on the wall of the lounge.

"Perfect defence mechanism. Once you laid eyes on a Gorgon there was no escape. You couldn't run, you couldn't attack. Your body was already turning to stone. And there was nothing you could do to stop it. One glance was all it took. Terrifying."

Sarah Jane concluded the story and looked at the two girls. They both were trying to imagine what it would be like to be turned to stone.

"Does Bea believe that Gorgons actually existed?" Maria asked.

"I think she believes one still does." Penny answered with a frown.

Clyde and Luke turned when they heard the sound of tires screeching. A black hearse had pulled up along side the road and neither boy liked the look of who was getting out. It was Sister Helena and her nun companions.

"Oh no, it's sister sinister again." Clyde mumbled, annoyed.

"Don't run away, Luke. I won't hurt you. I just want to have a little chat." Sister Helena told Luke.

"What about?" Luke asked.

Clyde was astounded that Luke could not have realised that he was in danger the moment he talked to the nuns.

"Don't listen to her." Clyde told him. "No way is she really a nun."

"Whatever  
>else would I be?" Sister Helena asked.<p>

"I don't know but I bet you ain't got legs under those robes, just a bunch of slimy alien tentacles." Clyde muttered, knowing Luke could relate to evil women with slimy tentacles.

Helena laughed.

"Your friend watches too much TV. I think perhaps we could talk a little more sensibly without him. Jump in the car. We'll go to the abbey." Sister Helena said.

Luke was hesitant but Sister Helena kept trying. She took his arm and began to lead him towards the hearse. Clyde kept protesting. Every time Sister Helena talked to Luke she had a soothing voice but with Clyde she snapped.

"The talisman is dangerous?" Luke exclaimed.

Two nuns moved between Clyde and Luke.

"More than you can imagine." Helena told Luke as she pressed her hand into the small of Luke's back.

Luke was pushed into the hearse before he had time to react. He turned but the nuns blocked his escape.

"Clyde!" he shouted as Helena pushed Clyde over.

Then the hearse pulled away. Luke looked back from where he was trapped in the hearse, his heart thundering. He watched as Clyde got smaller and smaller in the back window. Penny had told Luke about hearses and what they were used for and Luke got the distinct idea that he would be taking another ride in one if he didn't escape soon.

"So, it's an alien? This Gorgon is an alien?"

"Aliens were running a fizzy pop factory and a school, do you really find it hard to believe that a mythical creature could be an alien?" Penny asked in answer to Maria's questions.

"But one's survived all this time?" "Perhaps. The Doctor is very old." Sarah Jane reasoned.

"But how can it turn people to stone just by looking horrible?" Maria asked.

"I don't think it works quite like that." Sarah Jane laughed.

Penny smirked.

"Otherwise quite a few of the girls from our school would be Gorgons too." Penny joked.

Maria smiled just as Sarah Jane's phone rang. Sarah Jane moved away to take the call.

"So Sarah Jane used to read you myths as bedtimes stories?"

"Yeah." Penny said. "When she wasn't telling me stories."

"Did she tell you about Sontarons or...?"

Penny's normal calm smile had disappeared. She looked at Maria and, with her eyes, begged her friend to to dig any deeper.

"It doesn't matter." Maria said quickly.

An awkward silence descended over the two of them until Sarah Jane walked in.

"Luke's been kidnapped by a group of nuns!" Sarah Jane informed the two girls, already getting ready to leave.

Clyde ran towards Sarah Jane's car. Both Penny and Maria were in the back, offering Clyde concerned looks. Clyde was stumbling over his words, trying to explain the situation to Sarah Jane.

"I warned him not to talk to that freaky nun. I tried to stop him but just happened so fast. They pulled up, and bam!"

Maria and Penny shot each other worried looks. They were dealing with a Gorgon and they didn't want Luke to end up as some sort of statue.

"She was after the talisman." Clyde explained, reaching for the car door.

"Where's she taken Luke? Any ideas?" Sarah Jane asked, climbing in.

"I don't know. Some abbey." Clyde said.

"Well, obviously. She's a nun, Clyde, it's not like she's going to have taken him to the beach." Penny groaned.

"Think, Clyde." Maria urged.

"I'm trying to. I don't know."

Clyde gave the question a lot of thought and soon came up with a name. "Some old woman's name, like the lady writer. The old lady detective."

"Miss Marple?" Sarah Jane suggested.

Clyde shook his head. It didn't sound right.

"Agatha Christie?" Penny suggested.

"St Agatha?" Sarah Jane tried, leading on from Penny's suggestion.

"Agnes!" Clyde exclaimed, the name suddenly coming back to him. "St Agnes' abbey!"

Sarah Jane smiled slightly and drove off at high speed.

Sarah Jane knocked on the large wooden door as she sorted through her purse to find the right ID. She selected one and glanced back at the car to make sure that all the children were hidden. She didn't want to lose even more of them to the Gorgon. A nun opened the door and studied Sarah Jane suspiciously.

"Hello, my name is Felicity Barnes. I'm doing a story for the Times on religion in the twenty first century. Is there anyone I can talk to? Oh, perhaps Sister Helena?" Sarah Jane smiled and pushed her way in.

She glanced back at the car one more time as she went. When they heard the door close, all three children counted to ten in their heads. They then slid silently out of the car.

Sarah Jane had been looking for all signs of her son when she was lead through the abbey. She was lead into a large and beautiful library. At first she expected there to be someone else in the room but, as she moved around, it became clear she was alone. Then she heard the door's lock clicking. She turned and frowned.

"So much for fake ID." she muttered, hoping that the children were doing better.

Maria, Clyde and Penny kept as close to the wall of the abbey as possible as they crept round. They had a few close calls when they nearly walked straight into groups of nuns but they managed to hide from them all.

"There's a window." Maria said, pointing to an open window above them.

"Yeah, but it's on the wrong floor." Clyde replied.

"I could reach it." Penny said, checking the old fashioned brick work.

Clyde and Maria shook their heads but Penny was already climbing. She managed it with easy, latching her fingers and feet in the cement gaps in the bricks. Soon she swung into the open window. Maria turned to Clyde, they both knew they had to keep out of sight until Penny showed up and opened a window they could get through.

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Clyde asked. "What if she finds the Gorgon?"

"This is Penny. I'm sure she can take a creature like that." Maria murmured but didn't find herself believing it.

"I'm just worried that..."

"Clyde, she'll be fine." Maria said.

There was the sound of a window sliding up and Penny was standing there smiling.

"Who'll be fine?" Penny asked.

She helped Maria through the window first and offered Clyde a hand. Clyde didn't take it, preferring to climb in himself.

"Now what?" Clyde asked as he climbed through. "Where do we go?"

"What do nuns normally do with kids they kidnap?" Maria questioned.

"How am I meant to know?" Penny shrugged but lead the way down a corridor remarking how it seemed as good as any.

They came to a large wooden door and they couldn't tell what was on the other side of it. Penny went for the handle.

"Hold on." Maria said. "What if it's in there?" Clyde asked.

"Just keep your eyes closed." Penny told them and shut hers.

She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. She opened her eyes just a fraction to scan the room and gasped.

"Guys." she murmured.

Clyde and Maria opened their eyes. There, standing in the centre of what looked like a bedroom, was a stone statue of Mrs Gribbins. Only they knew it wasn't a statue.

"She's been turned to stone." Maria gasped.

Penny nodded and lead the way forwards. She stroked against the stone and felt a horrible cold touch on her fingers. Clyde and Maria both looked at her expectantly.

"There's nothing we can do." Penny admitted. "Just stop Luke having the same fate."

Then there was the sound of a door opening. Maria frowned.

"Clyde, did you close the door we came in with?" she hissed.

"No." Clyde said, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Because that means there's another door."

All the teenagers turned to see a black veiled old woman standing in another doorway. They could all feel in the pits of their stomachs that they were facing the Gorgon.

Sarah Jane was flicking through books, looking for something to do and a possible way to fight the Gordon. Then she heard the sound of the door being unlocked. She turned and saw Luke walking into the room and looking around, confused. Sarah Jane ran to him and pulled him close, hugging him tightly.

"Luke! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Luke informed her.

He didn't understand why she seemed so scared. He was away longer when he went to school and, although the nuns might have tried to hurt him, it was clear he was okay. He didn't understand her concern but he didn't reject it either.

"So, what do you think you're doing, getting into a stranger's car? For an intelligent boy, sometimes I can't believe how stupid you are." Sarah Jane said.

Luke tried to protest but another voice filled the room. Sarah Jane and Luke both turned to see Sister Helena.

"Luke was never in any danger, Miss Smith, but it seemed that bringing him here was the fastest way of attracting your attention. Although your other three young friends were a surprise." Sister Helena sneered.

She snapped her fingers and three nuns walked in. Each of them had their vice-like grips enclosed around one of the other three children.

"We found Mrs Gribbins." Clyde reported.

"She's been turned to stone." Maria added.

Helena snapped her fingers again and the children were released, running to Sarah Jane and Luke. Penny pulled Luke into a protective sibling hug and repeated what their mother had told him only seconds before. Sister Helena and Sarah Jane continued to talk until Sarah Jane asked if there real was a Gorgon.

"A creature with writhing serpents for hair? Those melodramatic Greeks. They never could resist embellishing a story. But yes, as you've seen, the myth isn't entirely without foundation."

The veiled woman from before walked in, hissing. Sarah Jane forced all the children protectively behind her.

"But it's an alien, right?" Maria clarified.

"The Gorgons travelled to our world three thousand years ago. Once there was three. Now only one."

Clyde found the conversation begin to angle towards a history lesson before Sarah Jane introduced the talisman into the mix. Then fury glinted in Sister Helena's eyes.

"The key to whatever brought the Gorgons to Earth. And the Sisters have been searching for it ever since. Did you get close once, Sister Helena? Maybe fifty years ago. Was that when the second Gorgon died?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Professor Nelson-Stanley and his meddlesome wife. But you have the key now, Miss Smith. I'm sure you will be more reasonable." Sister Helena spat.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Penny told her.

Sister Helena shot Penny a glare which caused her mother to move protectively between the nun and the teenaged girl. Then the nun launched into a sob story about how the Gorgon simply wanted to return home: a story nun of the gang believed.

"Why should I believe you?" Sarah Jane asked, knowing she had to do the adult thing and give the woman the benefit of the doubt.

"Miss Smith, you have no choice." Sister Helena said.

"All right. We'll get it." Sarah Jane said, gesturing to all of the children.

"Smith and the boy stay here." Helena growled.

"Which one?" Penny asked.

"Both." Sister Helena said, realising that both Penny and Luke shared the Smith title.

"No! They're coming with me."

"They'll be perfectly safe." Sister Helena said, already leading Sarah Jane and Maria from the room. "So long as you don't try to deceive us."

Then the door was locked, leaving Penny, Luke and Clyde trapped in the library.

"Well, that went well." Clyde remarked.

Sarah Jane rushed into the attic. She needed to find a way to trick the nuns into releasing all the children. They weren't letting Maria up into the attic with her because that would mean they lost another hostage. They thought they held all the cards but Sarah Jane knew that was the most dangerous thing you could do. She took the talisman from Mr Smith and silenced his protests. Then she produced her sonic and had a great idea.

Maria was pacing the room, surrounded by several nuns and the Gorgon itself. Sister Helena had picked up the book on myths and was flicking through the story of the Gorgon with a dull smile on her lips.

"Does she speak English?" Maria asked, looking at the Gorgon.

"The Gorgon doesn't need to speak." Helena snapped without even looking up from her book.

"You mean she's, like, telepathic? Is that how she controls you? I mean, looking after a Gorgon isn't exactly normal for a bunch of nuns, is it?" Maria asked.

Helena told her to be quiet and wondered what was keeping Sarah Jane. Then Sarah Jane entered with the talisman. She barely said a word before she had the tip of the sonic pressed against it.

"Either you let my children and their friend go, or I will destroy the talisman with sonic disruption." Sarah Jane threatened.

She knew that as soon as the children were free from the nuns she could get to work on stopping the Gorgon fully.

"I warned you, Miss Smith. Now look on the face of the Gorgon and feel your flesh turn to stone." Helena spat through a smile.

The Abbess reached towards her veil and began to lift it. Sarah Jane went to cover Maria's eyes and, in doing so, let Helena grab the talisman. Confusion took over the lounge as Sarah Jane and Maria tried to avoid the Gorgon's eyes. Then Alan walked in. He was completely unaware of what as happening.

"No! Don't look!" Maria shouted. "DAD!"

The Gorgon's snake like coils of light hit the person who was looking at it's face. The engulfed them and suddenly faded, leaving everyone in the room staring at a stone Alan Jackson.

* * *

><p><strong>Dum, Dum, DAAAR! (If you know the series you know what is going to happen!) By the way, don't ask me about Penny and the Sontarons, I have an idea about it but it's pretty awesome and surprising so please wait and see!<strong>


	7. Eye of the Gorgon part 2

Hi. Yay13 here. Firstly: I don't own the Sarah Jane Adventures. Secondly: if I did I really wouldn't be sitting on my sofa during the Easter holidays with pretty much nothing to do. Thirdly: I am always looking for requests for aliens or characters to fit in. Fourthly: (which surprisingly is a word) please review. They normally make my day when I have homework.

* * *

><p>Maria and Sarah Jane stood shell-shocked as the Gorgon was lead from the room. Sister Helena was pleased with herself, smiling at the talisman and gloating.<p>

"After three thousand years, the doorway to your people can be opened again." Helena said, turning to the Gorgon.

"And what then? Invasion?" Sarah Jane asked.

"The Gorgons need us to survive, Miss Smith. Opening the portal to their world isn't opening the door to invasion, but salvation." the nun assured her.

Maria took a step forwards. She tried to look threatening but she only looked as scared as she felt.

"What have you done to my dad?" she asked.

"Pay heed to the Gorgon's warning and don't interfere."

Then Sister Helena left. Maria turned to the stone statue and began to cry.

"He can't be. He can't be." Maria murmured. "I didn't mean to shout at you, dad, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Listen to me, Maria. You are not going to lose it. You are not going to fall apart. Do you understand me? Whatever has happened to your father, there's one thing I've learned after all these years. There is always a chance. Do you hear me?" Sarah Jane told her.

She hated to see Maria like this: so heartbroken and scared. She was on the verge of losing one of her parents. Then Maria turned on Sarah Jane.

"Mum was right. I shouldn't have had anything to do with you. It's all your fault! You and your aliens. I wish I'd never seen that one in your garden. I wish I'd never seen you! Everything was fine till we moved here. Everything was fine." Maria moaned.

"I know, Maria, I know." Sarah Jane comforted, pulling Maria into a light hug. "But we have to try. We have to try to put things right."

Penny was staring at a bust of Medusa that stood near the fire place. She didn't like it. She couldn't shake the feeling it was staring at her. Causally, she slipped off her jacket and covered the bust with it.

"So lets review the situation:" she began, "we're trapped in a library in the middle of a monastery full of evil nuns and a Gorgon and no way of easy escape."

"Is Sarah Jane really going to give that Gorgon thing the talisman?" Clyde asked Penny, walking over to her.

Penny had been about to answer but Luke got there first.

"Of course not. If the Gorgon only wanted to go home, then why would Mrs Nelson-Stanley so scared of the nuns finding it? Mum knows that. She'll find a way of tricking them." Luke told Clyde.

He was reading through books he had found in the library, taking in all the information. Penny could remember Luke learning to read, even holding the book the wrong way up at one point. It had been strange to watch him then. It was strange to watch him read so quickly then as well. He seemed so calm and at home despite the fact that they were being used a hostages to get a freelance journalist to hand over an alien talisman to a Gorgon that wanted to take over the world.

"Are you sure? I mean, what if she doesn't? What will they do to us?"

"She's our mum. She wouldn't let us down. I bet right now they'll be thinking of a way of getting us out."

"All the same, we should be looking for a way of escaping, not catching up on our reading." Clyde pointed out to Luke.

"At least he's doing something." Penny reminded Clyde.

"It's a history of the abbey. Originally, it was a private house, built in the 16th century." Luke said.

Clyde made a sarcastic comment about it which Penny elected to ignore for Luke's sake.

"That was during the Reformation, when priests were being hunted."

"Since when were you so good a history?" Clyde asked. "Even Mrs Pitman has given up on teaching you it." Clyde asked, referring to their history teacher.

Him and Penny sat together in history. Penny was focused in most lessons but in history she turned it into a game of guess which aliens caused which historical event with him. They would pick holes in each others theories. She normal won because she knew more aliens but Clyde was sure what she was making some of the weaknesses up. There was no way that Luke had defeated the bane using an alien version of a mobile phone.

"My Godfather is a time traveller." Penny explained.

"Which one?" Clyde asked.

He knew for a fact that Penny had at least two Godfathers and no Godmothers.

"The Doctor." Penny answered. "Well, he's unofficially my Godfather. On an alien planet he is but not on Earth."

"Anyway. Houses were built with escape routes and passages. Houses like this one." Luke told the two of them.

He stood up and walked over to where Penny had hung her jacket. He picked it up and revealed the Medusa head, throwing the jacket to Penny. It fell short but Penny tired to scoop her jacket up before Clyde noticed. Clyde did notice but he didn't say anything. Luke carefully turned the head of the bust and there was a click. A panel slid up in a large fire place and the three teenagers shot each other looks of joy.

"Come on. Lets get out of here." Penny told the two boys before disappearing into the fireplace.

Clyde and Luke smiled at each other and then disappeared inside.

Mr Smith had scanned Alan and now Sarah Jane and Maria were waiting for the results. Suddenly the computer spoke up.

"My scan indicates Mister Jackson has undergone massive molecular transmutation." Mr Smith told them.

Maria and Sarah Jane both darted over to the computer.

"We know that, Mr Smith." Sarah Jane snapped. "He's been turned to stone."

"Not stone. Not strictly speaking. It's an organic petrification process." Mr Smith said.

Maria let the words settle in and tried to find their meaning.

"Like fossilisation?" Maria tried.

"It's comparable. And, to correct you again, Sarah Jane, Mister Jackson hasn't turned but is turning."

Suddenly there was a glimmer of hope in Sarah Jane's eyes. She looked straight at Mr Smith.

"You mean the process isn't complete? Could it still be reversed?"

"Theoretically." Mr Smith answered.

Sarah Jane managed to hold on the little bit of hope she had and wondered if Maria could fell the hope too.

"Well, what does that mean?" Maria half shouted.

She was frustrated over everything – how cryptic the computer was being, the danger her dad was in, the fact that her best friends could be getting the same fate right that minute.

"It can be done. The molecular transmutation isn't yet stable. But, I don't know how to do it." Mr Smith admitted.

Maria began to shout at the computer, begging him to have some answers. He simply didn't.

"I'm not sure there is sufficient time. My scan suggests molecular stabilisation will be complete in approximately ninety minutes."

Suddenly Maria turned to Sarah Jane, an idea glinting in her eye.

"Bea! She might know something."

"Well, she might. But Maria, Bea has Alzheimer's. Her mind is trapped in the past." Sarah Jane said, sadly, but Maria wasn't going to be stopped.

"Well, that doesn't matter because that's where she met the Gorgon. We've only got till four o'clock." Maria squealed.

Sarah Jane smiled at the genius idea and her and Maria raced for the door.

Penny was crawling on her hands and knees, ignoring the spider webs that were hitting against her. Luke was following her, instructing her on the way. Clyde was going last. He was getting hit with the fewest spider webs but he kept squealing.

"Not scared of spiders are you?" Penny teased.

"I'm not scared." Clyde snapped. "It's just I keep thinking they're grabbing me."

"The spiders you find in the UK are not going to do you any lasting damage." Luke said.

"That's not the point." Clyde moaned.

"What is the point?" Luke asked, really confused.

Penny sighed and silenced her brother.

"Which way?" she asked after coming to a stop where the tunnels forked into two.

Luke paused and then pointed down one tunnel.

"That way." he said.

The group continued onwards until there was a shred of light ahead of them.

Luke took Penny's hand as she pulled him out of the hole. The hole that lead out of the tunnels had weeds growing around one end and came up in some sort of old stone out house. Penny pulled Clyde out of the hole and they emerged from the out house brushing spider webs off them. They stopped when they began to look around the garden. In front of them were finely kept gardens littered with stone statues. Horror was fixed in the faces of all the statues and the teenagers all knew what they were: the Gorgon's victims.

"Why couldn't they get garden gnomes like everyone else?" Clyde asked, dryly.

"Gnomes are boring." Penny remarked, walking over to the nearest statue.

It was Mrs Gribbins. Penny didn't touch the statue but simply stared.

"It's killed all these people then put them on show." Luke said, shocked.

"Like trophies." Penny added.

"Or a warning." Clyde tried, knowing that if they didn't get out of there soon they could find themselves part of the collection. "And I'm taking it. Let's get out of here."

He grabbed Penny and Luke by the arms and began to walk them out of the abbey.

Luke stopped Penny and Clyde just before they turned a corner. The group slowly looked round and saw a group of nuns – the ones who had left with Sarah Jane. They recognised Sister Helena and the Gorgon in an instant. Sister Helena was holding the talisman and Penny got a horrible feeling that something really really bad had happened.

"We have the key. Rejoice, Sisters! The Gorgons shall be free!" Sister Helena cheered.

_Free to do what? _Penny wondered, moving closer to get a better look.

Luke pulled her back cautiously. They watched as the Gorgon got out of the hearse and stumbled.

"Mother Abbess! She is weakening. We must open the portal as soon as possible." Sister Helena said and began to help the Gorgon inside.

As soon as all the nuns were gone, Clyde began to hurry off.

"Now, while the coast is clear." Clyde said.

Penny and Luke stayed by the wall. They shot each other a glance as Clyde turned back to look at them to see why they weren't following.

"We can't." the Smiths said simultaneously.

"What are you talking out?" Clyde asked.

"I promised Mrs Nelson-Stanley that I wouldn't let them take the talisman. I've let her down." Luke said.

"And something has probably happened to mum." Penny said but Clyde ignored her, turning to Luke.

"When you promised her, did she tell you you'd be going up against a Gorgon and if you kept your word you'd probably end up a garden ornament?" Clyde asked.

Luke shook his head nervously. He was aware of Penny talking to herself, about something but he was too focused on talking to Clyde.

"She wasn't straight with you, Luke, and this goes way beyond the call of duty." Clyde said, then he turned to Penny. "Now can we go?"

Penny shook her head.

"As I was explaining to anyone who was listening, which evidently wasn't you two: Mum would never have given them the talisman unless something had happened." Penny said.

That hit Clyde hard. He hadn't been thinking about that. He had made a point of avoiding thinking about it.

"What, you mean that thing? Sarah Jane and Maria?"

"If it has then it's up to us." Penny said. "Any ideas?" "I think I have one." Luke said and explained his plan.

Maria knocked on the door to Bea's room. She knew the woman was in there. She had been listening outside it for a few seconds, trying to work out what to do and say. Sarah Jane had dropped her off there and Maria had hoped she would stay but Sarah Jane had needed to go and rescue the others. With the Gorgon returning and no need to keep the other hostage, they would be in danger.

"Come in." Bea called.

Maria opened the door slightly and walked inside. The room still took her breath away.

"Bea? Hello, it's Maria. Do you remember me?" Maria asked carefully.

Bea paused for a few moments and studied Maria and then turned back to the photos she was going through. After a few seconds she put them down and turned to Maria with a smile.

"Hello, darling. You're a little young, aren't you?" Bea said.

"Young?" Maria repeated, wondering what the woman meant.

"To be the curator of the Museum of Egyptology."

there was a beat and then Maria realised something horrible. Bea didn't remember her.

The nuns were circling a large stone well with snakes carved on the side. They were smiling at each other and chanting.

"Serve the Gorgon! Serve the Gorgon!"

Sister Helena held up the Talisman in front of them all.

"Behold the key to the portal. After three thousand years, our work here comes to an end and our world is on the threshold of a new age. The Gorgon world is a hundred million light years away, and the angle of ascension must be aligned perfectly." Sister Helena said triumphantly, placing the talisman in it's place and having her face bathed in a gentle green glow.

"The transdimensional occlusion is forming. Alignment is at twenty per cent." one of the nuns announced.

Sister Helena smiled.

"Only an hour before the portal opens and your people shall join you. After all these centuries, Gorgons shall have their promised land. The time grows short. The host is dying. We need to find a new carrier before the portal opens."

That was when a nun, a bit smaller that the others walked in. She had a veil over her face and wasn't chanting.

Maria was upset. Everything she tried with Bea just ended in the woman becoming more distracted by the past. Bea was currently playing her records. She put one on, smiled and began to dance slowly to it.

"Edgar and I danced to this in the palace. In the palace of the Sultan of Ishkanbah. Do you know the Sultan?" Bea asked.

Maria shook her head.

"No. I've never even heard of Ishka... Bea, listen. The Gorgon has turned my dad into stone, and if you don't help me, I'm never going to get him back. Do you understand?"

Bea didn't answer. She continued to talk about meeting the Sultan and then she smiled.

"He's seen the Yeti, you know." Bea said.

Maria had an idea.

"Tell me. Tell me about the things you've seen. I've seen all kinds of things with Sarah Jane." Maria urged.

But Bea began to ask about who Sarah Jane was and Maria felt her hope slipping away. When Maria said the word 'Edgar' she lost Bea to her memories. Only then did Maria feel completely helpless.

Sarah Jane tried her sonic on the doors of the abbey. She was surprised and horrified to find them deadlocked. She wasn't going to let the nuns keep her children and their friend hostage any longer. No deadlock was going to stop her. She ran round and found a low wall. She had watched Penny climb things lots of time. It wasn't hard for her to climb over the wall and begin to search the other side of the abbey.

Chrissie was annoyed. She was staying with Alan and Maria but both of her hosts had disappeared and neither were answering her calls. She could think of only one place she would find them. Sarah Jane's.

"Maria? Alan? Are you there?" she called, ringing the doorbell.

No one answered, not even Sarah Jane or one of her children. Chrissie decided to go round and check the back. She looked through the lounge window and gasped. In the lounge there was a stone statue of Alan!

"The woman's obsessed." Chrissie remarked, climbing through an open window into Sarah Jane's lounge.

She moved closer to the statue and took in all the detail. She touched it gently and felt how smooth it was, almost like it was real skin.

"She really is a bunny boiler, this one. Couldn't have the real thing, so she's made herself a statue. I bet you'd be flattered if you knew, wouldn't you? You didn't know, did you? So it's come to this, has it?" Chrissie said, coming to a sudden realisation. "Talking to a flaming statue instead of the real thing. Maybe her and me aren't so different. Both have to make do with what we can. The difference is, she doesn't know what she's missing, does she? Still, you're all right. Anyone can see that. You and Maria get along great. Better off without me around messing things up. Well, like I said, I can make do till I mess things up again, which I will, because I'm me, aren't I? Anyway, er, been nice talking to you."

Then Chrissie turned to leave, climbing out of the window. When she left, a tear swelled up in the eye of the statue and trickled down it's stone cheek.

"Alignment is at forty five per cent." one of the sisters reported.

"Good." Sister Helena said.

"But the Mother Abbess?" the sister inquired.

"Her strength is failing. Soon we will select a new host. Soon the Gorgons and humanity will be one. Until then, bring me the girl from the library. She'll have to do."

The sister turned to leave and Luke, from where he was hiding in a passage way behind a tapestry, frowned. Their plan counted on surprise, if their disappearance was noticed before they started they would lose that. He also didn't like the sound of anything the nuns said that might involve his sister.

Clyde glanced down at his watch, checking it was time. He hoped Luke and Penny were both in position as he reached up and grabbed the rope that was hanging down in front of him.

"All right, Quasimodo, time to do your thing."

Then he pulled and the bell above him began to ring.

Sister Helena looked around in horror. She couldn't understand where the noise was coming from. Then she realised – the bell tower. Her and the nuns began to storm out. All except one. Luke darted out from behind the tapestry and almost ran into the remaining nun. The nun darted over to the talisman and pull it out of it's slot, throwing it to Luke. The nun then pulled back their veil to reveal Penny's smiling face. Luke was impressed. He had watched her come in and he had thought it would have taken her longer to find, steal and get dressed into one of the nun's robes.

"Good work." he congratulated.

"Lets find Clyde." Penny said.

Then the Gorgon flew forwards. She was in a wheelchair, making it clear to the two Smiths that she was even weaker than normal. Penny pulled off her own veil and tossed it between the Gorgon and them. The Gorgon lifted their veil and Penny and Luke ran before they had chance to look at the creature. The nuns came into the room and saw as the two of them escaped.

"Stop them!" Helena ordered.

The group began to meet in a small court yard. Penny and Luke coming from one door, Clyde from the other. Luke held up the talisman to show Clyde he had got it and then they looked around.

"There's loads of them! They're everywhere!" Clyde said as the nuns closed in.

"This way!" a familiar voice shouted and the group turned to see Sarah Jane standing near a door way.

Suddenly nuns began to come through that doorway as well. The nuns circled the group. Sarah Jane pulled the children in close and protectively glared out at the nuns.

They had been locked into the cellar. Penny had quickly dropped her nuns robes, having been wearing her normal clothes underneath them. Clyde was staring at the lock. It was rusty and seemed useless but it was keeping the door locked.

"I bet your lipstick thing would have had this licked, no problem." Clyde moaned.

Sarah Jane nodded. Unfortunately the nuns had taken it off her along with the talisman and the mobile phones of everyone of their prisoners.

"We don't need any Star Trek gadgets. This place is full of secret passages and stuff. Luke read all about it. He's got it all filed in that superbrain of his." Penny reminded them.

"I don't remember any down here." Luke said.

"All the time, there's no harm in trying." Sarah Jane said and the group began to look for some sort of old fashioned switch.

Then Luke turned to Sarah Jane. "Mum. I think the Gorgon is dying." he said.

"Why?" "We saw her stumble earlier, like she was sick." Clyde said.

"And she was in a wheelchair the last time she attacked us." Penny added.

"I heard Sister Helena saying they needed to find a new host. She said, when the portal's open, humanity and the Gorgon will be one. And she sent someone to get Penny." Luke finished.

"That's what she meant. At the house, when she took the talisman, Helena said the Gorgons needed us to survive. I don't think the Abbess is the Gorgon." Sarah Jane exclaimed.

The children all looked at her confused. She was about to explain when the lock clicked and Sister Helena entered.

"Miss Smith, will you come with us?" Sister Helena said.

"Which one?" Penny asked.

"You." Helena answered with a scowl.

Penny frowned and the boys moved protectively between her.

"She is not going anywhere with you." Sarah Jane said.

"How times have changed. Years ago mothers would be queuing up to have their daughters join us." Sister Helena smiled, looking straight at Penny.

"Well not me." Sarah Jane said. "If you need someone, I'll take Penny's place."

"Mum!" Penny exclaimed.

"I'll be fine." Sarah Jane assured her daughter. "Don't let them take her." she instructed her son.

As Sarah Jane went with Helena, she looked back and offered the children a warm smile. Sister Helena turned to the children as well.

"Don't worry. We won't harm a hair on her head and, boys, if your mother doesn't do as we want, we'll be taking Penny shortly." Helena said.

The children weren't sure whether she had just threatened them or talked to them. Either way they didn't like it.

Tears were falling down Maria's cheeks. Everything had just become so real. Her father, and possibly her friends, were being turned into stone statues and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Sarah Jane was right, wasn't she? I thought meeting creatures from other planets was going to be exciting and cool. But she told me. She said it wasn't anything like that. In the end, it just messes you up, your whole life and the people you love. That's why Sarah Jane only had Penny. That's why you're here, isn't it, Bea? With no one in the world who really knows you, or cares. This is how we all end up, isn't it?"

There was a beat of silence and then Bea turned to Maria.

"I had my Edgar. You are young, you'll find yours." Bea said.

"Bea!" Maria gasped. "Are you really there?"

"Where else would I be?" Bea asked, getting hugged by Maria.

Maria wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Bea.

"I haven't got much time. The Gorgon turned my father to stone. Is there a way to save him?"

"Your father? Oh, dear. Oh, deary dear. That's most unpleasant. I should know, it happened to me, you know." Bea said.

Maria felt a sudden joy. It meant that someone had survived what the Gorgon had done. It meant there was a way to reverse it.

"It turned you into stone? But Edgar saved you. He must have. How?"

"The talisman. It is the key to the door between this world and theirs. But it's more. It returned me to flesh and blood." Bea explained. Then Maria's heart sunk. The talisman was in the hands of the Gorgon.

"Then you must get it back. Not only for your father, but for every soul on Earth!" Bea said.

As Maria turned to leave. Bea stopped her.

"Would you er, fetch me my mirror? No, not for me. What do you think I'm going to do, powder my nose while you take on that monster? It's for you."

"For me?" Maria said, staring down at the mirror, confused.

"Whatever do they teach you in schools these days?" Bea groaned.

Sarah Jane watched as Sister Helena put the talisman back in place. The nuns had tied her hands to a beam in the central chamber and Sarah Jane was facing the nun in charge. Penny and Luke had been right about the Gorgon getting weaker. Sarah Jane could see how sick it looked.

"What makes you think the Gorgons will still want to invade? Three thousand years is a long time." Sarah Jane said.

"Not for the Gorgons." Sister Helena countered with a simple smile.

"Without host bodies to carry them? The Gorgons are parasites, aren't they, Sister Helena?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"Parasite. It's such an unattractive word." Sister Helena spat.

"It's what they are, a life-form that lives on another, that depends on another to feed and survive."

Sarah Jane didn't know why they had wanted Penny but she could tell it was probably something to do with the Gorgon's parasitic nature. She just hoped that Penny had not been intended to be some sort of host – she hoped for the Gorgon's sake it wasn't true.

"The Gorgon gives its host life beyond human years. The Abbess has carried the Gorgon for two hundred years, although there have been many hosts over the generations. And now she grows weak. Her time is coming, and the Gorgons have chosen a new host to lead its domination of Earth. You, Miss Smith."

"And you were going to chose my daughter?" Sarah Jane cried. "That's sick. She's only thirteen."

Penny and Luke had continued searching the room long after they had decided there were no passages out. Clyde had given up. Then Luke produced a trowel. He showed it to Penny and she smiled.

"You're going to dig a tunnel?" Clyde asked as Luke handed it to Penny and the girl knelt down near the door.

Knowing the two Smith kids, he wouldn't put it past them.

"No, I'm going to make a screwdriver, the old-fashioned way." Penny answered, inserting the point of the trowel into the top of the screw.

"Not long now, Miss Smith. As the Abbess weakens more, the Gorgon will release its hold on her and you will become leader of a new race ruling planet Earth." Sister Helena smiled, looking into the pit.

There was a growing green light coming from it and a the light seemed to be swirling like a hurricane.

"You can do what you want to me, but this planet will never bow down to that thing." Sarah Jane said firmly.

"It will, Miss Smith. Starting with your children."

Penny caught the last screw and the lock as they fell from the door. "Yeah!" Clyde cheered as the door opened and the children left.

They walked into a corridor only to see a nun was guarding it. The nun was facing away from them.

Penny walked up to the nun with a smile on her lips and pressed gently into a pressure point.

"Sorry about this." Penny said.

The nun sunk to the floor unconscious. Penny turned back to the two boys.

"We need a plan." Luke said.

"Yeah, sure. When we get a chance, we'll figure one out. In the meantime, we need to find Sarah Jane."

Clyde began down the corridor and Luke frowned. He looked at Penny for support but she was already following Clyde down the corridor.

Sister Helena was still looking down at the portal. A small black dot was growing in the centre.

"The portal is opening. The Gorgons are coming. The new Queen must be ready to meet them. Bring the host forward. Don't struggle, Miss Smith. Embrace your destiny." she instructed.

Luke, Penny and Clyde appeared in the doorway and watched as Sarah Jane was untied from the column and brought forwards by the nuns. She tried to convince them that what they were doing was insane by they refused to pay attention.

"No. The Gorgons shall save us. From war, from greed. We will exist only to serve them. We will be at peace everlasting, and you shall be our Queen. To receive the Gorgon, do not look into its eyes, Miss Smith. To do so will turn you to stone." Sister Helena announced.

Two nuns walked forwards holding a blindfold. They attempted to blindfold Sarah Jane.

"I'd rather be a lump of granite than bow down to that thing." Sarah Jane snapped defiantly but was blindfolded.

"You don't have a choice, Miss Smith. Prepare to serve the Gorgon!" the head nun announced.

The other nuns began to chant as the Gorgon rose from her chair. She reached towards her veil. Luke and Penny had seen enough. They both darted forwards.

"Mum!" Luke shouted.

"Leave her alone." Penny cried.

Clyde followed them and they tried to free Sarah Jane. The nuns grabbed them before they had the chance.

"Hold them. The three children can witness the transfer and be the new Queen's first prey."

Sarah Jane realised in horror that Sister Helena meant Penny, Luke and Clyde. She cried out for Helena to leave her children alone. The abbess began to raise her veil and Penny told the boys to look away. That was when Maria darted in. She pushed past the nuns and got between the stream of glowing green snakes that the slithering through the air towards Sarah Jane. She turn raised the mirror and reflected the snakes back. The Gorgon screamed as the snakes began to circle her. Then she was turned to stone. The nuns looked around in confusion, releasing the three children and then stumbling around. Luke untied the blindfold and then hugged Maria.

"You're free. The Gorgon's lost its control over you." Sarah Jane rejoiced.

Then the moment of happiness was shattered when the group looked at the vortex. The Gorgons were beginning to come through. They raced round and Maria fumbled to grab the talisman. Penny grabbed the chain and pulled, pulling the talisman from it's place. The light suddenly died.

"What about your father?" Sarah Jane asked, concerned.

Maria grabbed the talisman off Penny and they ran,

Penny, Clyde and Luke didn't need an explanation when they saw the stone statue in their lounge. They had been given one on the way back but they could have worked it out from just what they could see.

"What if it doesn't work?" Maria asked.

"It will." Penny assured her.

"You've only got a couple of minutes." Clyde said, staring at his watch.

Maria put the talisman on her father's neck and smiled as a green glow engulfed him again. Penny pulled Maria back in case they had made a mistake. Suddenly a flesh and blood Alan Jackson fell to the floor. No one was quick enough to catch him.

"Dad!" Maria cheered.

Her dad was unconscious.

"Quickly. We have to get him out of here before he comes round. There's a chance he won't realise what we do." Sarah Jane said.

Alan woke up on a beach. He had had the strangest dream but it was soon fading away, almost impossible for him to remember it. He got up and realised he was in Sarah Jane's garden. He smiled and looked through the window.

Penny and Clyde were playing a video game while Luke and Maria were going through a book on ancient myths.

Alan exited the garden and felt his arm get caught by someone. He turned and saw Chrissie.

"Where the heck have you been? I've been looking for you. It's been ages!" Chrissie exclaimed.

"I must have been overdoing it a bit. I went looking for Maria, then I must have sat down in Sarah Jane's garden and dozed off. I've found her by the way. She's round Sarah Jane's with her friends."

"Do you know what that woman has in her lounge? It's shocking. Come."

Alan wasn't sure what she meant. He had just looked into the lounge and there had been nothing odd.

"A statue of you." Chrissie said as if answering a question.

"A statue of me? But why?" Alan asked.

"Because she's a nutter. We're going to go round there and prove once and for all that our daughter shouldn't be hanging around with her."

Sarah Jane turned to Penny, Clyde and Luke. She had just dealt with Chrissie and Maria had gone round to calm her mother down and see her off.

"You three, you make quite a team." Sarah Jane remarked.

"We do, don't we?" Clyde said, putting his arms around Penny and Luke.

Penny brushed him off.

"Clyde, why don't you ring your mum and tell her you'll be staying for tea? The Viszeran Royal Fleet are passing through the solar system tonight, all six hundred ships. Only takes a few seconds, but it is the most magnificent stellar light show this side of the galaxy." Penny said.

She went upstairs to go and talk to Mr Smith.

"I'm pretty sure she makes half of this stuff up."

"She doesn't." Sarah Jane assured him and began to explain about the Royal fleet Penny had been talking about before.

Penny was up in the attic when her phone rang. She answered it with a smile.

"Hi, Maria." Penny said. "What's up?"

"Penny, you never told me, why do the Sontarans upset you so much?"

"Maria, you know how you felt today?" Penny asked. "After what the Gorgons did to you dad. The Sontarans have made me unable to stop feeling like that."

Then Penny hung up the phone and refused to answer when Maria called back.

Penny smiled as she walked into Clyde's room a few days after fighting the Gorgon. Clyde was letting her borrow a text book and, since she had seen his drawings before, he let her into his room. There were more drawings up there, a whole set of drawing equipment. It was amazing. Penny told Clyde how she felt about his room.

"It just some stuff." Clyde said with a shrug as Penny picked up a comic book page he had drawn.

"Did Luke tell you about this?" Penny asked.

Clyde nodded. It was a simple comic book pace made up of only a few panels but it showed the day they had rescued Luke, specifically when the Bane had been chasing them up the stairs and grabbed Luke with his tentacle. Even more specifically when Penny had kicked the Bane creature in the eye.

"Maria told me some too and Mr Smith showed me an image of the Bane."

"Clyde? What happens if someone realises that these are really real?" Penny asked. "What if your mum she's me kick something and recognises it from your drawing?"

"She thinks I ask you and Luke to act as real life models for my drawings."

"That's nice." Penny said. "Why does no one know you draw?"

"It's not exactly cool." Clyde said.

"Well I think it's very cool. Just try and draw less of the aliens and more stuff from this planet. You could give us away. We've already got Mrs Jackson on our trail."

* * *

><p>Preview for the next story:<p>

"This is my godfather, well, one of them." Penny laughed.

The man was smiling at Chrissie with the look of a practised flirt. Penny knew all to well what that smile meant and attempted to pull the man behind her.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, kiddo?" the man asked, raising his eye brows.

"Maria, Alan, Chrissie, meet Jack Harkness."

"Captain Jack Harkness." the man automatically corrected, shaking Alan's hand.

**OOOOOHHHH! ENJOY!**


	8. Genius!

Alan, Chrissie and Maria were walking through town. Maria knew it wasn't like old times but it was the closest it could ever be. She did love her new life, aliens and adventure, but her old one still held fond memories. Chrissie was moaning about her latest upsetting experience and Maria was only half listening.

"Maria? Isn't that your friend?" her dad asked, cutting off Chrissie.

He was pointing at Penny who was walking across the road with the arm of a strange man over her shoulders. The man was dressed in a grey trench coat and was young. He was also startlingly handsome.

"I thought she was planning to teach Luke to skateboard today." Alan thought aloud.

Clyde was on holiday with his mother. Luke had been a bit bored and Penny had offered to teach him skateboarding. She had brought him a skateboard and he was using an old helmet that Penny had not needed since she was nine. That was when Maria began to panic. She knew that Penny wouldn't blow off a chance to teach Luke something new for just any reason. She knew the possible danger that Penny could be in. This man could be an alien for all Maria knew.

"Dad, I've never seen that man before." Maria said.

"Neither have I." Alan replied, grimly. "Lets go talk to them."

Penny smiled at Maria as she walked over.

"Hey."

"Hello." Maria answered. "Who's your friend?"

"I'm Alan, Alan Jackson." Alan said, extending his hand.

Chrissie looked annoyed but, when she caught sight of the man, she smiled and relaxed. The man had black hair, a strong jaw and striking eyes. Chrissie tried her best to make herself look pretty.

"This is my godfather, well, one of them." Penny laughed.

The man was smiling at Chrissie with the look of a practised flirt. Penny knew all to well what that smile meant and attempted to pull the man behind her.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, kiddo?" the man asked, raising his eye brows.

"Maria, Alan, Chrissie, meet Jack Harkness."

"Captain Jack Harkness." the man automatically corrected, shaking Alan's hand.

Luke was confused. Penny had got a phone call and taken off. She had told Sarah Jane where she was going but not why she was going or why in such a hurry. Luke had decided to go after her. He had walked out of the front door but Penny was long gone by the time he was out. He went back to talk to Sarah Jane.

"Where's Penny gone?" Luke asked.

"She's gone to see an old friend." Sarah Jane answered.

She was making sandwiches.

"I have a story to work on." she said. "A scientist says he's managed to invent a set of androids that are capable of acting exactly like humans. Do you want to come?"

"No." Luke said. "I would like to see Penny and try to learn skateboarding."

"Penny said she would teach you tomorrow." Sarah Jane smiled.

She saw Luke look down at the floor. Since they had fought the Gorgon, Penny had been busy, leaving Luke to entertain himself. He had spent a lot of time with Maria when Maria wasn't with Penny. Clyde had been away so Sarah Jane could understand how Luke wanted to spend time with his friends. "What about Maria?"

"Her mum is in town so she's gone shopping with them and Mr Jackson." Luke grumbled. "Okay, Luke, I'm going to tell you where Penny has gone and you can go but the person I'm guessing she's meeting up with is a bit... Hard to handle so..."

"Be good?" Luke suggested.

"Be on your guard." Sarah Jane corrected, writing down the name of a café.

Penny and Jack were sitting in the café they had planned to meet up in. Penny noticed with a frown as Chrissie tried to convince Alan and Maria to come into the café so she could flirt with Jack. Penny had got her God-father out of there before it had gotten too bad but now...

"We need to investigate a company called X-tech."

"Why?" Penny asked.

"Look at these." Jack said, producing a series of files. "Torchwood has been investigating these for months and have managed to track these down to X-tech."

"Missing people?" Penny exclaimed, seeing the link between the files.

"More than just that, very intelligent missing people. Possibly geniuses."

"And they all link back to X-tech. They were all taken the same week there was an X-tech exhibition in the area."

Jack then produced another set of files and placed them on the table in front of Penny. She opened the files and looked at them. They were on blue paper and seemed to be showing human shaped robots.

"Are these plans?" Penny said, studying the new files.

"No, they're anatomical maps." Jack said.

"But these are robots." Penny replied.

"That's what they look like. They aren't. They're aliens made of living metal. They are called Reckia and I think they're on Earth. They would appear human probably, have some sort of covering on them or cloaking device so they can blend in."

"Are they dangerous?"

"Living metal makes them unbelievably strong. They are always looking for ways to advance themselves by either tricking or kidnapping geniuses."

Penny was thankful Luke was still at home. She didn't want him to be kidnapped by the Reckia.

"And these work for X-tech?"

"X-tech work for them. X-tech was created by Michael Robinson – a genius who's ideas were... the norm for geniuses. Now he's producing tools like he's ten times the genius he was."

"So Reckia have him kidnapping geniuses and letting him use them to make tools while they use them to update themselves." Penny managed.

She looked at the files.

"Why are you here then?" she asked. "If Torchwood is doing so well on the case?"

"X-tech is on an exhibition in London. They are going to set up a factory here and..."

"Kidnappings." Penny said gravely.

Jack nodded. Penny put the files down and sat back. She loved the company of her God-father. She trusted him and always felt like she could talk easily around him. Brigadier was her other real God-father (she counted the Doctor as a God-father despite him not really being one). When they talked it was usually in UNIT and that meant Penny could never be sure if UNIT were listening in.

"How do they know if they've found a genius? It's not like all geniuses wear badges or something."

"They monitor brainwaves." Jack said. "They have scanners in their hands that mean they can sense the brainwaves on contact. Geniuses have more brainwaves or something."

"So how can we stop the Reckia?" Penny asked.

"Using these." Jack said, putting a few bullets on the table.

"No guns, Jack!" Penny said.

"You sound like your mother."

"You sound like a small child." Penny snapped back. "No guns."

"That's the feisty Penny I'm used to."

Penny picked up the bullets of the table and tucked them into her pocket.

"EMP."

"What?" Jack asked, as he looked back from staring at a pretty female waitress.

"Living metal should be affected by EMPs."

"But guns are more fun." Jack remarked.

"No guns!" Penny moaned.

"Guns mean we don't have to go undercover." Jack said.

"I went undercover as a nun while fighting a Gorgon. I don't mind whatever I have to go undercover as."

"Great, because you have to pretend to be my PA." Jack said and got up.

Penny frowned, unsure what to do. She then stopped frowning, smirked and stood up. She got up and walked over to Jack. She past Maria on the way, gave her a nod and then watched as she walked away with her family.

Luke got to the café minutes after Jack and Penny had left. He walked inside and then slammed into a girl his age. She was holding a drink and spilt it right down his front. Luke looked down his front with a frown and then smiled at the girl.

"Hello." he said.

"Hi." she replied. "Oh, look, it's all down your front. Let me clean it up for you."

"It's okay. I'm looking for my sister. She's got..."

"Why are you looking for her?" the girl asked, steering Luke towards a chair.

"She went to meet a friend and I was bored so. My name is Luke."

"My name is Natalie." the girl said.

"Nice to meet you, Natalie." Luke said. "My sister would have been meeting up with someone. Someone probably a bit older than her. They would have talked about... I don't know, aliens?"

"Robots?" Natalie tried. "There was a girl and a man sitting over there discussing robots and X-tech."

"X-tech?"

"Technology company. Have you been living under a rock or something?"

"Been busy." Luke replied. "What were they discussing?"

Luke could sense adventure in the air. When his sister discussed something strange, it normally meant she was working on something big. "Robots, some sort of alien robots? Must be bad."

"You never know." Luke smirked.

Natalie frowned and then looked at Luke. She studied the stain on his shirt and then confused to try and brush it off. As she did, she brushed against Luke's arm. The moment her hand brushed against Luke's arm, her eyes lit up. She smiled and looked at him.

"Luke, you seem like a bright boy, can you help me with a little problem?"

Luke looked nervous. Sarah Jane and Penny had told him not to talk to strangers after the nun incident but he knew Natalie's name and she knew his. She seemed like a nice girl. Luke didn't think he should be scared of her.

"Okay." he said and let Natalie lead the way out of the café.

Sarah Jane smiled as Maria walked into the attic.

"I saw Penny in town. She's with this guy called Harkness, Captain Jack Harkness." Maria announced.

Sarah Jane had been talking to Mr Smith, the X-tech logo on the screen. The reporter turned and smiled.

"Of course she is. It was either him or the Brig and the Brig tends to drop in and say hello." Sarah Jane said. "Do you want to help me on a story, Maria?"

"A normal story or an alien one?"

"Normal. A company called X-tech are setting up a factory here in Ealing and they are hosting an exhibition of all their inventions. They've invited top journalists along. Penny normally comes with me on these sorts of things but she's out with her God-father and Luke is trying to join them so..."

"Nice to know I was you first choice." Maria said slowly, meaning it as a joke.

Sarah Jane looked hurt so Maria took it back.

"How was your day shopping?" Sarah Jane asked, heading towards the door with Maria.

"Dull as dishwater. Would I be wrong for hoping for some excitement today?"

Penny watched as Jack walked out dressed in a smart suit. He had his winning smile plastered across his face and nodded towards Penny. Penny, herself, was dressed in a black pinstriped business suit with a skirt instead of her usual trousers. Her hair was up and she looked a lot older than the thirteen she really was. Jack smiled and handed her a clipboard with a few pieces of paper on.

"So, I'm the rich owner of Murry Business Limited – Jack Murry. I'm looking to invest in X-tech. You're my PA and sectary – Penny Olivers. We've worked together since you left university. I hired you and we have a good working relationship." Jack informed Penny.

He had told her it before but he was simply clarifying.

"You know what you have to look for, right?"

"Anyone who seems to be mind controlled, enslaved or too young to be working there. Look for anyone who has strange habits and scan for alien life-forms using the device you gave me." Penny replied.

She produced a device that Jack had given her from her back pocket and checked the display.

"Must be broken." she muttered just loud enough for Jack to hear.

"Why?"

"It isn't picking you up as alien." Penny smirked, sticking out her tongue.

Jack laughed and put his arm around her shoulders.

"If you keep being cheeky, I'll get that friend of yours to do it. What was her name? Mary? May?"

"Maria." Penny said. "She helps me and mum fight aliens."

"So how did you meet?"

"Remember Bubble Shock?" Penny asked.

Jack nodded. He hadn't liked it but Bubble Shock had come to Cardiff. Lots of people had been affected.

"She helped us stop it." Penny replied. "How are we going to get to the X-tech exhibition? I'm guessing you have fake IDs but we're going to need a car or something."

"Yeah. Torchwood actually pays pretty good expenses."

"Really?" Penny said. "You brought a car."

"Yeah. I wasn't going to take the train up here for crying out loud and they won't let me take one of ours."

The two walked out of the shop they had gotten changed in the changing rooms of and Penny looked around. Then she saw a red sports car on the other side of the road.

"Is that yours?"

"I told you. I'm a rich business owner. I have to have a flashy car."

Luke followed Natalie through the streets.

"What is this little problem?" Luke asked.

"It's a homework problem." Natalie asnwered.

She kept answering in a vague way but Luke didn't mind. Natalie seemed very nice and she was paying him attention which was better than his other friends.

"So do you and your sister talk about aliens a lot?" Natalie asked.

"Yes." Luke answered. He didn't like lying and it wasn't like he was giving away the gang's every secret.

"Have you ever seen aliens?" Natalie inquired, half dragging Luke down the street.

Luke was fast becoming aware that they were heading away from the main and crowded streets. They were heading into the alleyways of London. He wanted to pull back but he liked the adventure and he was more than qualified to help someone with their homework.

"No." Luke lied, uncomfortably.

Sarah Jane had told him to answer that way if he was ever asked by anyone outside of the gang unless she said otherwise. It was safer that way.

"But has your sister?"

Natalie turned to Luke and raised her eye brows quizzically. Luke frowned. He wanted to find Penny now. He didn't like the fact that the girl kept asking him about aliens and about Penny. He knew Penny would have been talking about aliens but not so anyone would notice. Natalie probably knew more than she was letting on.

Sarah Jane and Maria were lead in by a pretty young secretary. She lead them into the stylish office of Mr Robinson – the owner of X-tech.

"I was under the impression that there would be other journalists for the exhibition." Sarah Jane said after the introductions were made. "Is it just me, Mr Robinson?"

"Please, call me Michael." the handsome, if slightly older, man said, falling into a relaxed posture. "I am a strong believer in the personal touch, Miss Smith. I believe in allowing journalists the chance to conduct interviews alone. The other journalists have, Miss Smith. You were the last here so have the last interview."

"How considerate." Sarah Jane remarked. "I have some questions about you, Michael."

"Please, ask away."

"How does it feel to own one of the most successful companies in the UK? I mean it's not like the things X-tech comes up with can be described as anything less than genius."

"I spent my youth thinking, Miss Smith, much like your young friend is spending her time learning your skills. Many of the things I have created were thought up then." Michael said with an air of self importance.

Maria didn't like it. Luke could probably out think the millionaire even on his worst day and yet he managed to stay down to Earth.

"And yet so many people are willing to invest." Sarah Jane said.

"Yes, they are. Exhibitions like this show off the great starting points we have. People see potential and they invest."

"But you are soon to be considered one of the cleverest men in the UK." Maria said.

She had met people like Michael before. You could always get the most answers out of them if you flattered them. Sarah Jane smiled at her young assistant's idea.

"Have you got any tips for anyone thinking of starting up their own company?" Sarah Jane asked. "Since you must be one of the most successful people in that field."

"Just try your hardest and..."

There was a bleeping sound from the intercom. Michaels apologised and pressed the button. His receptionists happy tones sounded.

"Mr Robinson, a Jack Murry is here to see you about possibly investing."

"Okay. Can you send him in?" Michael said.

He turned to Sarah Jane.

"I'm sorry to cut this interview short but some of the investors don't like to be kept waiting. If you believe you need any more, you know where to contact me." he said and had his receptionist lead them out to the main exhibition.

Then the other door to the office opened and Penny and Jack walked in. Michael smiled and stood up, clasping Jack's hand as he shook it.

"So you must be Mr Murry and this must be your wife..."

"We're not married." Penny said quickly.

"Of course you aren't. So what exactly are you?"

"I'm Mr Murry's PA."

"I can't leave home without her. Seriously. She carries my house keys." Jack joked, taking a seat.

"So, Mr Murry, you're here about investing."

"Yes." Jack said. "I was reading about your company and how many genius inventions you have and I was thinking, that there must be some sort of think tank round here I could invest into."

"A think tank?"

"Yes, a collective group of geniuses who pool their idea to create things." Penny said quickly.

It was a reaction from dealing with Luke. If there was a phrase he didn't understand, Penny would automatically explain it to him.

"I understand what it means, Miss..."

"Miss Olivers, Penny Olivers." Penny said, extending her hand.

"Perhaps your PA would like to schedule some more meetings while we talk." Michael said.

_Well done, Penny, hit the raw nerve of the big headed genius. Get yourself out of the interview so you can look around._ Jack thought, really proud of his God-daughter.

Penny looked a bit annoyed as she stood up to leave. Jack offered her a nod to tell her that what she was doing was a right thing. Penny then left the room, scanning Michael as she went. He came up clean. Jack turned back to Michael.

"I want to inform you that we don't have a think tank. I am the genius behind all the inventions X-tech has come up with."

"Then you are one of the most brilliant people on the planet." Jack exclaimed. "I would love to invest in your company. Of course there is a matter of looking around and getting a real taste of what I will be investing into."

"Well, I have an exhibition on today, you could join and then I could show you around the new factory complex."

"Come on, Luke!" Natalie called, turning a corner.

Luke didn't want to follow Natalie but he wanted something to do and Penny and Maria were both busy.

"I'm coming." Luke called.

Then he turned the corner. Natalie was standing near a X-tech van.

"Um... What's that?" Luke asked.

"It's a van." Natalie answered with a shrug. "There's something inside I want you to take a look at."

Luke had been told not to get into strange vans but he hadn't been told not to look inside them and he was really interested.

"Open it up then." Luke said.

Natalie opened it up and Luke looked inside, amazed at what he saw.

"That's a robot!" Luke exclaimed. "A real robot."

"Yeah. I found it and it attacked me and I need someone to help me deal with it."

"Can you bring it out?" Luke asked.

"No, sorry." Natalie said.

"Is it from X-tech?" Luke wondered, remembering the side of the van.

"You could say that." Natalie smirked, reaching towards Luke.

Luke turned away and told Natalie that he was going to pay X-tech a visit.

Maria watched as Sarah Jane examined the inventions that lined the room. They were all very impressive. Most of them looked like stuff that would come out of Luke's head.

"Who invented these?" Maria asked.

"If we're to believe him, and I don't, Robinson." Sarah Jane said. "So who?" Maria inquired. "And why don't you believe him?"

"Because no one on the planet would be as dumb as he is and invent all this stuff." Sarah Jane answered.

Maria couldn't help but notice that she hadn't answered her first question.

"So what are we going to do?" Maria asked, already watching as Sarah Jane produced her sonic.

"A bit of investigating."

Sarah Jane soniced an official looking door that lead out of the room and then walked through it, Maria following behind.

Seconds later, Jack entered, trailing Michael. Jack had his hand on his scanner, checking for aliens. It kept coming up blank.

"As you can see, the ideas produced by X-tech are really something else. They are the future."

"But I want to see behind the scenes." Jack said, scanning the journalists. "Your exhibition is good but everyone does things like this. I want to see the real X-tech."

Jack wondered how Penny was getting on. The girl had her mother's ability to get answers out of people but X-tech had managed to operate under Torchwood's radar for quite some time. They had no proof that these Reckia worked with X-tech, just a very big hunch.

Michael gave an irritated growl and then smiled.

"If you want to see 'behind the scenes' then behind the scenes you will see." he smiled.

Penny was getting annoyed. The receptionist seemed as suspicious as her as she was of it. The woman was refusing to let Penny reach into her pocket and scan her.

"So, you believe Mr Murry will want other appointments?" the receptionist inquired.

"Yes. He's been very interested in this company for quite some time but he just feels like something is _missing._"

Penny was employing a tactic she had seen her mother use many times during interviews. She used words that linked to what she was investigating to make the interviewee become worried and slip up.

"How interesting." the receptionist remarked in a dry tone.

"He's just impressed by the way that Mr Robinson comes up with so many ideas – almost as if he has other geniuses working for him."

Penny knew that was pushing it. She knew that was probably a step too far and got that from the receptionist's reaction.

"Miss Olivers, if what you are saying is true then you have just walked into the base of someone who manages to kidnap geniuses without barely anyone noticing. I'm pretty sure it would be pretty easy to make you disappear." "I wasn't saying that." Penny smirked, leaning back.

She looked at the receptionist's glare and then decided to make a quick escape before she really was in trouble. She thanked the receptionist for her time, said she would be in touch and then left to find her 'boss'. As she walked down the corridor, she ducked into a doorway and got ready to scan the receptionist. Suddenly someone began to walk down the corridor.

_Lets hope they aren't Reckia, from what Jack said, I don't want to be hunted down by them._

When Penny was the approaching person, she knew it wasn't a Reckia but it did little to calm her down.

_Luke? What's he doing here? I thought he was at home with mum._ Penny thought. _He's..._

Luke walked up to the receptionist and smiled.

"Hello, my name's Luke. It's nice to meet you. I'm here to see the person in charge." Luke said.

The receptionist looked at him drily. She was clearly bored. Then Penny's device bleeped. She realised that the receptionist was Reckia.

_Don't you dare touch my brother._ Penny mentally threatened.

The receptionist went to lead Luke into the office and touched his arm. The receptionist turned to Luke with a smile.

"I think he's in here, Luke." the receptionist said, leading Luke away.

Penny began to follow them, worried about her brother.

Sarah Jane and Maria heard voices coming towards them as they wondered through the white walled corridors. They could see locked doors with blacked out windows. Sarah Jane walked over to one of the doors and aimed her sonic at it. The black veil disappeared and Sarah Jane could see a young woman inside it, working on a high tech device. The woman seemed completely focused on her work, even when Sarah Jane tapped on the glass.

"What's happened to her?" Maria asked.

"No time." Sarah Jane said, unlocking the door with her sonic and hurrying inside.

The black veil appeared when they closed the door and Sarah Jane and Maria listened by it.

"As you can see, Jack, this place is full of the greatest labs known to man, each one containing my on going inventions." a voice, that the two recognised as Michael, said.

"Can I look inside?" another voice, recognised as Jack, asked.

"Of course not. It's for security. Thousands of people want to steal my inventions." Michael replied.

They passed the door and Sarah Jane turned to Maria. She didn't try the door, instead turning to white coated woman.

"She's a scientist." Maria said.

"Yes, but she didn't react when we came in."

"Has she been..." Maria took a moment to take in the mazing thing she was suggesting. "Hypnotised to work for Michael."

"I think so." Sarah Jane said.

She walked over to the woman but didn't stop her from working. Then Sarah Jane pulled out her phone and called up Mr Smith.

"I'm going to send you a photo, Mr Smith, scan it and see if the person has been reported missing."

Sarah Jane took a photo and sent it to Mr Smith. The reply took a few seconds to come.

"The woman's name is Sasha Walters, she was reported missing four months ago but no one has made attempts at following her since she reportedly moved away to join a think tank."

"So she was kidnapped, by this Robinson guy." Maria exclaimed.

"I believe so." Mr Smith said.

"And she was kidnapped because he needs geniuses."

Mr Smith agreed with Maria's suggestion.

"Maria, call up Luke and tell him to stay away from anything to do with X-tech." Sarah Jane said, slightly distracted.

Luke's phone began to ring in his pocket but he didn't answer it. He looked down and saw it was Maria's number. He wanted to prove that he could do this on his own. He followed the receptionist as she lead him down white walled corridors.

Behind the two, Penny followed, hidden in the shadows. She kept her eye protectively on Luke. Se didn't like what was happening one bit.

"So, Luke, you're an intelligent boy, what do you think of the place?" the receptionist asked.

"I think it's dull." Luke said, slowly.

"Why do you think that?" she asked.

Luke thought about it for a moment. He was used to the beautiful chaos of the attic and how every tool had it's own place but they were never defined or marked, just remembered. Everything else seemed dull compared to the attic.

"Everything's so white." Luke settled on.

Penny watched the group but, behind her, someone had their eyes drilling into the back of her head.

"He's not answering." Maria pointed out.

Sarah Jane sighed. After the incident with the nuns, she was rather worried about Luke. Penny had been used against her lots as the girl had grown up. Penny's existence had become common knowledge when Penny had been four and for almost ten years the girl had been kidnapped, attacked and generally threatened as a way of getting to Sarah Jane. Now Penny had proved to be very competent when it came to aliens and Luke very naïve, it was Luke who became the victim more often then not.

"Try Penny." Sarah Jane said, studying the scientist.

Luke recognised the ring tone of his sister's phone. He frowned, hoping that the receptionist possibly had the same ringtone. He felt his heart sink when he saw that the receptionist was scanning the room for the origin of the noise. That was when there was the sound of a struggle, before Penny was lead out of the shadows by a familiar girl. Luke wasn't sure which one to be shocked about, his sister's presence or Natalie's.

"Penny?"

"Luke, we need to get out of here, they're aliens." Penny said. "Aliens who have a habit of kidnapping genius."

"What?"

Luke was highly confused as Natalie pushed his sister forwards. Suddenly the receptionist gripped Luke's arm in a horribly strong hold.

"Oh, and I thought our cover was so good. What gave it away?"

"The unexplained kidnappings and this." Penny said, reaching into her pocket and producing the scanner Jack gave her.

Natalie snatched it off her and trod on it. Luke looked down and saw a distinct lack of wiring inside the device.

"Really shouldn't have done that." Penny winced.

"Why?" Natalie asked.

"Because Jack gave me that and he doesn't like people standing on his stuff."

Luke sighed at his sister and how calm she really was. He looked at the receptionist and frowned.

"So what are you going to do with us, because, as much as I love standing around, we're going to escape, sooner or later."

"Lets take them to the Central Chamber. We can hypnotise the boy and find out what the girl knows."

"Um, not thanks, on both accounts." Penny shouted, suddenly pulling away and producing a handful of wiring. "Cause, I'm a genius, well, nearly. I can build stuff though. This is an EMP – a home-made electro-magnetic pulse emitter. I know this will work on you because I've seen the plans. Now, let me and my brother and anyone else you've taken prisoner go and leave our planet."

The receptionist released Luke and Luke studied the device Penny was holding.

"Penny..."

"Not now, Luke."

"But Penny..." Luke moaned.

"Luke, shut up." Penny said, backing away with her brother behind her.

She knew what Luke was going to say and wanted to put some distance between them and the Reckia.

"Penny, that isn't going to make an EMP, it's a jumble of wires from the scanner Jack gave you." Luke pointed out.

The two Reckia smiled and moved closer.

"Yeah." Penny said, dropping the wires. "Now we run."

Natalie and the receptionist glanced at each other. Natalie began to chase after them, while the receptionist pulled out a radio.

"Mr Robinson, we have a situation, two children know. Should I pursue?"

Jack watched as Michael talked into a radio. The millionaire was jumpy about something and the Torchwood agent wanted to know what. He edged closer, trying to listen to the radio conversation. Michaels put the radio down and turned to Jack with a cruel smile.

"It seems like your little partner knows what we're up to." Michael said and raised a weapon.

Sarah Jane and Maria crept out of the room and scanned the corridor. They guessed that each room housed a kidnapped genius.

"Penny didn't answer either." Maria reported.

Sarah Jane was beginning to get worried. Luke not answering could mean he was busy. Penny not answering could mean she was working on a case with her old friend. Both not answering meant something big was happening.

"I think there are aliens involved in this." Sarah Jane said, slowly.

"Do you ever work on a story which has no aliens in it?" Maria asked.

"Not really." Sarah Jane reported with a smile. "We need to find Penny and Luke."

They turned a corner and saw Jack standing in the corridor, a gun being pointed at him.

"That's Jack Harkness." Maria said.

"You know him?" Sarah Jane hissed back, examining the situation.

"He was with Penny this morning."

Michael was circling Jack, asking him questions and not getting answers.

"How did you know what was going on here?" Michael asked.

"A hunch." Jack growled back.

"But you must have tools, something that lead you to believe something was up."

"You're hiring aliens to bring you geniuses, it's not hard to see something is up." Jack spat.

"And yet you refuse to show me how clever you've been. Maybe your younger partner will be more open to answering questions."

"You leave her alone!" Jack growled, moving towards Michael.

Michael pointed the gun at Jack but Jack didn't care. He couldn't die so he didn't see any reason to worry about being shot by the man. If it saved Penny then.

"Have you caught her yet?" Michael asked.

"After them now."

Maria and Sarah Jane looked at each other.

'Them?' Maria mouthed, surprised.

It was at that Sarah Jane had had enough. She walked out, surprising Michael. Maria followed.

"Mr Robinson, I do hope this is not how you treat all your visitors." Sarah Jane said, looking at Jack.

"Come on, Sarah Jane, we both know I'm special."

"Jack, behave." Sarah Jane told him. "You're hunting down a young girl right, probably went by the name of Penny."

"Yes, her and a boy called Luke Smith." Michael said, with pride.

Jack and Maria both hung back, unsure of how Michael and Sarah Jane would react as they faced each other. Sarah Jane seemed remarkably calm but Michael was the one with the gun – the one they were really worried about.

"Are you aware that those two happen to be my children?"

"I was not. Are you aware that your son is a genius? A genius we have cornered along with his sister in the Central Chamber?"

"I was not." Sarah Jane stopped and smiled. Jack and Maria smiled to, knowing Sarah Jane had a plan.

"Take us to the Central Chamber."

Neither Smith child would ever be sure when Natalie dropped her human form and showed her true robotic origins. They both agreed it was during the chase, but that was all. They had started off being chased by Natalie but, when they had gone into hiding under the desks of a large bright, white, circular lab, they were confronted with the metallic feet of the Reckia. Luke was hiding behind one desk, Penny was hiding behind the other. There was a large, dentist's chair in the centre of the room surrounded by the two crescent desks. On the walls, there were glass panels, each one leading to a small alcove which houses a sleeping Reckia.

"I know you're here." Natalie taunted.

Neither Smith child replied as she walked into the centre of the room.

"You two have actually ran to the exact location we were going to take you."

Penny slipped out her phone and set it on silent. Then, under the tiny crack of the desk, she saw Luke, asking for her to give him her phone. She hoped she could slid it across the floor unnoticed. She managed it.

"It's not like you two have very many places to hide." she remarked. "Why don't you just come out?" Luke began to strip back the panels on Penny's phone. He knew he would need to get to some more wire but that could come later. Both the Smith stayed silent.

"Now, you are both clearly very intelligent, cunning to say the least. Did you know that the hypnotising upgrade came from Michael Robinson himself? He first found one of us getting ourselves fixed by a mechanic and managed to hypnotise the mechanic into forgetting us. We had it installed. However, geniuses tend to be able to resist the hypnosis, that's what the chair is for, strapping them down while we can work."

Luke looked under the desk again and silently asked Penny to distract Natalie. Penny nodded.

"You got any other upgrades?" Penny asked. "The plans I saw were clearly out of date. They said nothing about mind control."

Penny stood up and Luke moved towards a control panel just below one of the sleeping Reckia. Natalie was distracted by Penny, walking towards the girl.

"Hello." Penny said. "Have you been upgraded to be horribly boring as well? Because it's working... Seriously it is."

Penny gave a fake yawn, and Natalie walked closer, pressing her hand against Penny's neck. The hand suddenly folded in on itself and a gun appeared.

"A very ingenious idea. The bullets are fed into us and stored inside our bodies."

"Evolution designed by lesser species." Penny murmured. "Interesting."

"Very." Natalie said.

She turned away from Penny but kept the gun trained on Penny's neck.

"Come out now, Luke, otherwise your first job when you're hypnotised will be cleaning up the girl's remains."

Luke was considering standing up. He was halfway through his work but someone else could make it and he needed to save Penny. That was when Sarah Jane and the others walked in, followed by Michael and the receptionist. Penny used it as a distraction. She swung her leg into the bends of Natalie's metal knees and ignored the pain that it flagged up. Natalie fell to the floor and Penny glared at Michael and the receptionist.

"Don't have to be a genius to defeat a robot." Penny said.

Jack smiled and walked towards Penny. Sarah Jane rushed over and hugged her daughter. Maria joined them. Michael and the receptionist stood in the doorway, blocking their escape.

"Where's Luke?" Sarah Jane whispered into Penny's ear, while they hugged.

It was quiet enough that Michael and the receptionist couldn't hear it.

"Under the far desk." Penny whispered back. "Working on an EMP." Sarah Jane nodded as she pulled away from her daughter. She turned back to Michael.

"You know that everything is is over for you." Sarah Jane said. "We've won."

"Really? You're trapped in a room with only one door that me and an alien from outer space are blocking, surrounded by aliens that will wake up if needed, if no weapons and a missing genius." Michael said.

"Only he's not missing." Natalie smirked, pulling Luke to his feet.

Penny glanced down at the ground and realised that Natalie must have heard their exchange.

"And he's actually building an EMP, not just using a handful of wires as a bluff."

Jack raised his eye brow and glanced at Penny. It was clear that the comment had been for her.

"Happens." Penny whispered to Maria as she received another questioning look.

"Just get the boy in the chair and hypnotise him." Michael ordered.

"I wouldn't, if I were you." Luke said. "I've sent the EMP pulse to fry every machine in this building and I've put it on a timer. If you put me in that machine, half way through the process, the EMP will go off and fry all of you Reckia, then my friends will simply be able to round you up and sent you on your way."

Sarah Jane grinned at how brave Luke was being. It was a risky plan but it seemed like it couldn't fail. Luke handed Natalie the EMP.

"I'll tell you how to deactivate it if you let me and my friends go." Luke said.

"Okay." Michael agreed, lowering his weapon.

"Just press the two cut wires together." Luke answered simply.

Michael raised his weapon as Natalie moved to put the two wires together.

"For a genius you really are stupid, put the boy in the machine. He's lost his only card."

The EMP went off and then the lights flickered. Luke smiled. The two Reckia fell to the floor, seemingly dazed.

"Oh, wait, did I just tell you how to set it off?" he asked.

Michael looked around shell shocked and Jack arrested him. Sarah Jane smiled and began to walk away.

"Are you lot going to stay and help clean up?" Jack asked.

"No. That's Torchwood business." Sarah Jane laughed back, shepherding the children out of the door.

"Penny? You want to work for Torchwood, what about some work experience?" Jack called.

"I currently work for UNIT." Penny called back. "I don't think they'd be very happy if I started training for Torchwood!"

**This was going to be longer but my computer is dying so...**

**Next up it's the Warriors of Kudlak!**


	9. Warriors of Kudlak part 1

Hey, hello. Yay 13 here.

Disclaimer: I own Penny but not the rest of the gang.

Please review!

* * *

><p>The room was dark. The only light came from the computer screens in front of the creature. A teenaged boy vanished from the screen. The creature smiled.<p>

"Mistress, I bring you another."

"Bring me more. I need more. Many more children!" the creature's mistress hissed back over one of the screens.

"It shall be done, Mistress." the creature replied with a slight bow of it's head.

Clyde was telling Luke, Penny and Maria about his holiday as he walked down the road. He was telling them about the beaches and how much fun he had had. Luke, Penny and Maria had neglected to inform him about what had happened at X-tech. They were walking down the street when Luke piped up with a joke.

"At breakfast times, I am so hungry, I could murder a bowl of cornflakes. Does that make me a cereal killer?"

He waited for the others to laugh but Penny and Clyde both winced and Maria just smiled, trying to comfort Luke.

"You're not laughing." he pointed out.

"It wasn't very funny." Penny explained.

"But I've been studying jokes, their structure and history. And that's what you do, you swap words around, so that was a joke."

"Well, I don't think it'll get you on the telly but, yeah, I guess."

"So what makes a joke funny? I've read timing's important. How, exactly?"

Luke turned to Clyde with a frown. He looked at him, trying to search for some sort of clue on how to be funny.

"It's complicated. Only a few people master the art." Clyde said.

"It's just a pity that that few people don't include him." Penny smirked.

"Is the context important?" Luke inquired.

All the teenagers shrugged, knowing that if one of them didn't end the discussion soon then they would have to answer Luke's questions all the way home. It wasn't that they found the questions annoying. It was just that Luke had a way of asking questions about things that were just natural, like why Penny moaned when asked to reach the remote even if it was right next to her or why Maria and her dad, and Penny and Clyde, insulted each other but didn't take offence.

"Why does every single thing with you lead to about five hundred questions? Come on, I want to get a new bag." Maria said, hooking arms with Luke and leading him down the street.

She was answered with a series of moans.

"But you've got lots of bags." Luke protested.

"You can never have enough bags."

"Another I don't understand." Luke grumbled.

"Don't worry, you're a guy, you're not supposed to." Clyde said.

"I don't understand it either." Penny pointed out.

Luke stopped to stare at a poster while the others walked on. The poster showed a group of teenagers each armed with futuristic guns standing in a triangle as explosions and laser blasts filled the air around them. At the top, in big lettering, was the words: Combat 3000. Luke was about to catch up with the others when a man walked up behind him.

"What do you reckon, soldier? Do you think you're man enough to have a go?" the man asked Luke in a grand tone.

Luke thought about it for a second and then looked down.

"I have to go shopping." Luke admitted.

He wanted nothing more for his friends to come back and get the man to leave him alone. In Luke's mind, a conversation with a stranger had so many variables that he didn't enjoy them. The man scoffed.

"That's kind of answered my question." he sniggered.

Penny returned back to stand by her brother's side and glared at the man in a protective way. She put a hand on Luke's shoulder and told him to come with her.

"There you go. Cut price vouchers, in case you change your mind." the man said quickly, forcing a set of leaflets into Luke's hands.

Penny managed to intensify her glare but said thank you.

"What was that all about?" Maria asked as they returned.

"Look." Penny said, handing Maria one of the leaflets.

The man followed the teenagers with a glare. He spat out his gum on the pavement and then disappeared into Combat 3000.

The man walked into his office and threw down the remaining leaflets. They landed on the desk in the centre of the room. The leather chair that was at the desk was facing the other way but the man talked to it anyway.

"Posters are up. I'm doing a local radio piece at three, and I've given the half price tickets to a street team to shift. You wait, Mister Kudlak. The last few weeks' takings will be nothing compared to what we've got coming. Oh, guess what? We got a birthday party shoot-'em-up booked in for tomorrow!" the man said, sounding as cheery as possible.

Suddenly the chair was spun round and a large bug-eyed creature glared at the man.

"I grow tired of your talk, Mister Grantham. Just bring me children!"

Sarah Jane never liked stories like the one she was working on. Even before she had met the Doctor, there had still been a horrible feeling inside her as she investigated them and now, having two children, it drove home how badly the parents felt during kidnapping or missing children cases. Sarah Jane didn't have to imagine the worry, Penny had been kidnapped enough and it seemed that Luke was going down a similar path.

"This is Lance." the mother of the missing child said, handing Sarah Jane a photo of her missing teenaged son.

Sarah Jane looked at the photo with all the compassion in the world. The boy was smiling, happy, and it was clear the mother was devastated to lose him.

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Metcalf. I can't begin to imagine what the last three days have been like. Are you coping?"

Mrs Metcalf nodded slowly but more tears trickled down her cheeks.

"I keep thinking my head's going to break. That's what it feels like. I'm on edge every minute, thinking that he'll walk up the path or the police will knock on the door and tell me..."

She trailed off but Sarah Jane could understand why. She dreaded to think of what would happen if it was one of her children who had disappeared without a trace and she was helpless to do anything.

"Children do turn up safe and sound. There's still every chance. Someone may have seen something important without even knowing it. My story might make them realise that and come forward." Sarah Jane assured her.

The mother managed to agreed and Sarah Jane inquired if something might have possibly made Lance want to run away.

"We never argue. Me and Lance, we've only got each other now. We know that life's too short for rowing."

The mother's eyes settled on a photo of her son and late husband. Sarah Jane had done her research. Lance's father had been in the army and had been killed in action. It was really only Lance and his mother. Sarah Jane managed a nod. She understood how hard it was for the person you loved to die in such a way. Penny's father had suffered a similar fate.

"Perhaps you could tell me what happened on Saturday."

"Nothing happened. Only Lance never came back. He was going out to meet his friend Brandon. They were going down the arcade. He lives for his video games. Only Brandon never saw him on Saturday. Lance never showed up. He just vanished into thin air. Help me get my boy back, Miss Smith, please? Please." the mother all but begged.

Sarah Jane silently made a vow she would.

Sarah Jane had returned to the attic to do work, only to find that the four teenagers were there and making a lot of noise. Clyde was spinning Maria's new bag round while Penny tried to snatch it off him and Maria and Luke laughed from the sidelines.

"Do you mind?" Sarah Jane asked when the noise got too much.

"Sorry, Sarah Jane." Clyde said quickly, speaking for the whole group.  
>"Clyde and Penny were just bugging around with Maria's new bag."<p>

"I'm sorry?" Sarah Jane said, completely confused.

"Mucking!" Penny exclaimed. "We were mucking around."

"Or messing, you know? Messing around? You've got to listen to the words, Luke. They're important in slang. You can't improvise." Clyde added to confuse Luke further.

Maria saw Sarah Jane's helpless look and decided she had to help her.

"We'll get out of your way." Maria said, already reaching for Luke's arm.  
>"No, wait. I've been to see the mother of that boy who went missing. Your friend, Lance Metcalfe, what do you know about him?"<p>

The teenagers looked at each other until Clyde spoke up.

"Friend? Don't get me wrong, Sarah Jane, I hope he's okay, but the Corporal's only been at our school a couple of months, and he's not really been up for making friends."

"The Corporal?" Sarah Jane repeated incredulously.

"Lance. Lance Corporal."

"And did you know his father was in the army? Was killed in Iraq? Nicknames aren't always funny, Clyde. Yeah, well, I hope this boy didn't run away because he was bullied." Sarah Jane found herself snapping.

Clyde put his hands up in his defence and said it wasn't him. Sarah Jane didn't think it would be Maria, she didn't seem like the kind of person to give strangers nicknames, and it wouldn't be Penny – not after... Her gaze settled on her son just as Clyde confessed it was Luke.

"People laughed when I came up with it. I thought that was good." Luke moaned, sounding on the verge of tears.

Sarah Jane's heart strings were pulled but she also felt angry that the joke could have been what lead to Lance going missing.

"It wasn't Luke's fault. No one knew about Lance's dad. He didn't tell anyone. He didn't have much to do with any of us." Maria tried.

"He was too busy with his Nintendo." Penny added.

"But I made a joke out of his name. I hurt him. Maybe Lance wanted friends just like I did. Instead, I probably made him run away." Luke whimpered.

His gaze frittered over everyone and the whole group could see the tears in his eyes. Luke stood up to leave.

"Oh no, Luke, you..." Sarah Jane tried but Luke wasn't going to listen.

He shouted about it was all his fault and then left the room, thundering down the stairs.

"I'd better go and talk to him." Sarah Jane said slowly and quietly.

"No, let me. I did drop him in it." Clyde replied.

He left and Penny said she would go after him, feeling a bit guilty about it. Sarah Jane sighed and sat down, a bit defeated. Maria looked at her. Sarah Jane had raised Penny with little help and Penny was an intelligent and well-brought up girl but she was different to Luke. She understood the challenges more and had learnt about social conventions slowly and throughout her childhood where mistakes were accepted. Luke was possibly learning everything at the worse time.

"Is he finding it hard to fit in?"

"No harder than I am." Maria assured her. "Penny and Clyde will talk to him. He'll be alright."  
>Maria could still see guilt in Sarah Jane's eyes and decided that she had to do something about it. She changed the subject.<p>

"How's Lance's mum?" Maria asked.

"Going out of her mind with worry."

"But you don't think there's anything weird about Lance disappearing, do you? I mean, you're not doing this story because you think there's aliens involved or anything?"

Sarah Jane quickly shot down Maria's theory and then asked about Lance's friend Brandon.

Brandon was playing on a large arcade game in a café. He didn't turn when Maria and Sarah Jane walked in so Maria greeted him. Even then he continued to play on his game.

Maria kept trying until Brandon growled out, "What do you want?"

"Hi, I'm Sarah Jane." Sarah Jane said from Brandon's other side. "I want to ask you some questions about Lance."

Brandon's character was finally killed and the top scores came up. Brandon pointed at the top five ID's which were all the same.

"Halo?" Sarah Jane read aloud.

"Yeah, that's Lance. He's the nuts." Brandon said and began to walk off.

Sarah Jane turned to Maria and inquired about what the word 'nuts' meant.

"It means very good." Maria said. "Or something along those lines."

They walked over to join Brandon at a table. He had got himself a drink and sat there taking sips from it.

"I was meant to meet him on Saturday in the park and then go to the arcade."

"And did you?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Well, he never showed. I thought the storm might have put him off." Brandon said.

Sarah Jane remembered back to Saturday. There hadn't been a storm as far as she could remember.

"Saturday was warm and sunny. I remember. I was in the garden until dark."

Saturday had been fun. Alan and Maria had come round and the group had talked and played games. The best game by far had been Scrabble but Luke, who had entered the game late, had joined Penny's team and the victors had pretty much been decided on from them on.

"Yeah, well, it was weird, wasn't it. It only lasted a minute. All these clouds came up the hill and then it just poured on me. And then the clouds just vanished, and it was blue skies again. I mean, it was weird." Brandon said, trying to back up his story.

"Frightening?" Sarah Jane suggested.

Brandon nodded.

Luke was sitting at a picnic table, drawing shapes on the surface in front of him. He looked up when he heard Penny and Clyde coming but didn't say anything until the two of them sat down.

"You know, for a while there I thought you'd gone AWOL with Lance. I've been looking all over for you." Penny said.

"Why?" Luke asked.

He had not been expecting to have been followed.

"Because that's what friends do when one of them is hurting. They try and help. Friends shouldn't grass each other up. I'm sorry."

Luke looked at Clyde confused and then checked that his friend had not covered him in grass. Both Clyde and Penny could guess the next question.

"How did you 'grass me up'?" Luke asked.

"Look, we'll get back to Slang 101 another day. Ding, ding. New class: how the Corporal doing a runner has got nothing to do with Luke."

"Don't call him that!" Luke snapped, looking at Clyde with horror in his innocent eyes.

"He's not here." Penny reminded him.

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't trying to be cruel, I was trying to be funny."

"We know, bro. Not everyone was born to be funny. Like Clyde clearly wasn't."

Luke managed a smile at Clyde's shocked and hurt expression.

The creature, Kudlak, was sitting in his control room, studying the screens. Then a familiar hiss filled the air and Kudlak turned to one screen, looking at his Mistress.

"I am here, Mistress."  
>"Time grows short. You must bring me children, Kudlak. Fresh, strong children." the alien mistress pleaded.<p>

"I will, Mistress." the creature vowed.

"This hunger for blood, it never ends!" the Mistress exclaimed.

Kudlak understood.

"You shall have what you need, Mistress. Soon you shall have all the children you need."

Mr Smith was showing picture after picture of children, each one ranging in ages from zero to eighteen. Maria was shocked at the number of them. It was a startlingly large number.

"Have all these kids really gone missing in a year?"

Her question was met by a sorrowful nod from Sarah Jane. The mother of two, however, didn't want to dwell on it.

"Mister Smith, we need to cross reference these disappearances with reports of localised freak weather conditions." Sarah Jane said.

The computer began it's work.

"I don't get it." Maria told Sarah Jane. "What does this storm have to do with Lance going missing?"

"Well, that's what we're going to find out. I don't think Brandon is the sort of boy to be scared by any normal storm, do you? Maybe there is something weird about Lance's disappearance after all."

After a few seconds, Mr Smith came back with his results.  
>"I have a data match for twenty-four children."<p>

"Twenty-four?" Sarah Jane exclaimed in disbelief.

She couldn't believe no one had made the link if twenty-four children had gone missing.

"Their disappearances all coincide with instances of unexpected but short lived torrential rain." Mr Smith said, his screen changing to a map of the UK and pinpointing where each child had disappeared from.

"All towns and cities." Maria pointed out.

"Why would it rain like that?" Sarah Jane inquired.  
>"Insufficient data." the computer confessed.<p>

"Well, Mister Smith, maybe we can get you some more."

Sarah Jane was rather impressed with her work. She had collected all manner of metal objects – both human and alien – from around the attic and house and had patched them together into some sort of machine that she hoped would get her the information that Mr Smith needed. Maria had watched and helped but now it was time to just add the finishing touches.

"Now, put those rubber gloves on and pass me those two metal cylinders one at a time." Sarah Jane said.

Maria reached for the two strangely shaped objects Sarah Jane had pointed two without gloves.

"No! I said put the gloves on first!" Sarah Jane snapped and Maria did as she was told. "Those are made from Cibrianite Flux. Touch them both at the same time and without protection and you complete an electroneurological circuit which will put you out cold for an hour."

Maria handed the metal objects one by one to Sarah Jane who fitted them onto the machine. She talked she as did so.

"Oh. You know, we should get my dad over. He's good at DIY. We could say it's my science project. He's got lots of tools." Maria remarked.

Sarah Jane looked at her as she produced an oxy-acetylene torch.

"Bet he hasn't got one of these. Stand back."

"Sometimes it feels like I'll never fit into this world. When I made a joke about Lance's name, it felt like a breakthrough because people laughed. But instead, it was another social miscalculation."

"Gaffe, Luke. It was a gaffe." Clyde told him.

"Last week you two said a gaffe was were a dude lived.

"It's different." Penny said. "Just stick to the text, bro."

"You see, things are so complex." Luke moaned.

Penny and Clyde both looked at each other. They needed to find a way of getting through to Luke and they both nodded to say it was time to bring out the big guns.  
>"Complex? You want to be grateful your old man didn't run off with your Aunt Melba."<p>

"At least he knew his dad, my dad was killed before I was even born and yet everyone expects me to live up to his legacy when no one is willing to tell me anything about him! Luke, you think life is complex? Wanta swap lives for a day?"

"We're experts in complex." Clyde told Luke.  
>"You can explain things to me?"<p>

"We can try." Penny informed her brother, squeezing his hands across the table.

"Go on, anything you want. Take your best shot." Clyde challenged.

Luke glanced at a group of teenagers who was playing football and settled upon his question.

"What's the purpose of games?" Luke asked.

"Why play games?" Clyde replied, slowly, trying to consider his full answer.

"Cause they're fun." Penny tried but Luke shook his head.

He pulled out one of the flyers the man had given them and placed it on the table.

"This looks like war and war isn't fun but it's a game." Luke said.

Clyde picked up the flyer and studied it.

"It's a laugh." Clyde said.

"But war isn't fun." Luke protested.

"You know what? There's not going to be any convincing you out here. Lets go so you can try it out." Penny said, grabbing the leaflet and slipping it into her pocket.

Grantham, the man from earlier, walked into the office and was met by Kudlak.

"Mistress is worried. It has been a month, yet our returns are minimal." Kudlak hissed.

Grantham frowned. He was used to being blamed for what was happening between Kudlak and his strange Mistress.

"I can't help it if the kids are low grade." Grantham pointed out. "Your mistress should come down. We could stick her in a sandwich board. She could hand out some flyers."

Kudlak threw himself up from where he was sitting and glared at Grantham.

"Do not mock my, Mistress." he spat.

Grantham was suddenly scared, stammering over his words. Kudlak didn't care about his fear. He continued.

"Neither of us is irreplaceable. Not I and certainly not you."

Some people had given Maria and Sarah Jane strange looks as they had wheeled the large contraption up the hill of the park. The contraption had been covered but it was still large and hard to wheel around. Sarah Jane pulled of the covers with a happy smile.

"Right, this is where Brandon got caught in the rain. Come on, let's get her going."

The two of them began to work, spinning dials and flicking switches. When everything was done, Sarah Jane pulled down on a lever. A beam of golden energy was fired into the sky. Maria laughed happily but nothing happened. Sarah Jane looked concerned at the screen, looking for readings. She didn't get anything. Stubbornly she powered the machine up again and fired more golden energy into the clouds.

Suddenly the clouds began to rain some sort of golden beans. Maria smiled as she watched it and then began to laugh happily. Sarah Jane joined her, mostly through pride at the machine. Quickly they collected them up.

Mr Smith had scanned the beans and was beginning to give his verdict.

"Particles identified as entanglement shells." Mr Smith said simply.

"What are entanglement shells?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Used by climate engineers to terraform hostile planet environments in order to support life. They stimulate rainfall."

"Ealing doesn't need terraforming." Maria laughed. "We get too much rain as it is."

"Might I continue?" Mr Smith inquired in annoyed tone. "You are picking up bad habits from Penny, Maria. Entanglement shells can also be a byproduct of some form of transdimensional energy dispersal."

"By what?" Maria asked.

"Teleportation." Sarah Jane said. "Aliens."

"Lance was kidnapped by aliens."

"Oh, they've been kidnapping people from Earth for decades for one reason or another. The question is, why Lance? And from where? Mister Smith, can you pinpoint the centre of the storm on Saturday?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Weather geostationary satellites record every hour and are unlikely to have registered such a brief meteorological anomaly. I will access a military satellite."

Clyde led the way into the room. He smiled as he looked around and saw rows of sensors and lasers. He patted Luke on the back and led the two Smith children towards a block of sensors. They slipped into them as other children their age walked in. Penny began to explain about what would happen to Luke. Penny's sensor had a large white eight on it, Clyde's had a large nine on and Luke's has a large ten. Clyde took over explaining laser tag to Luke when Penny was distracted by getting to know the feel of the weapon.

"It's a last man standing sort of thing." Clyde said.  
>"Or last woman, as the case <em>will<em> be." Penny remarked.

"But I still don't get the point." Luke moaned.

"You just wait 'til the adrenaline starts pumping. You'll see." Clyde said.

Penny was about to say something when a voice crackled over the tannoy system.

"Attention! Warriors of the future, take your places at the arena doors. Prepare to do battle! Show no mercy! Take no prisoners! This is a fight for survival! Only one can be the ultimate warrior! Battle commences in ten seconds."

Grantham frowned as he saw Luke and Penny standing in the group. Luke was looking down at his feet while Penny was talking to a different boy near her.

_She's ashamed to be seen with that boy._ Grantham thought.

"Well, Grantham, have you brought me good stock?" Kudlak hissed, his smelly breath causing Grantham to choke.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up yet." Grantham said, staring at Luke over the screen.

"Four."

Clyde elbowed Luke in the ribs and got the boy to look at him.

"Three."

"Take no prisoners, mate." Clyde instructed.

"Two."

Clyde turned to Penny and saw she had pulled up her hood. She quickly did the same.

"One!" the tannoy announced.

The doors opened and the group hurried out, splitting up into different directions.

Mr Smith had brought up the London area on his screen. He introduced the clip as 'animated data from a NATO satellite covering Western Europe taken on Saturday at sixteen oh four hours.' The film was quick and the storm flew out over London in seconds, retracting away to nothing just as fast.

"Run it again and slow it down." Sarah Jane said and turned to Maria. "People never really vanish without a trace. There's always a footprint, a tyre track, something. You've just got to know where to look." She turned back to Mr Smith. "Stop! Show me what's right there, at the heart of it."

Mr Smith zoomed in on the building and then showed a street level view of it, a picture of the building Penny, Luke and Clyde were inside.

"I know that place!" Maria exclaimed. "We were there earlier."

Maria pulled out the flyer Penny had given her and showed it to Sarah Jane.

"Combat 3000."

Clyde kept a close eye on Luke. He was worried about his friend. Luke kept getting hit. It wasn't that everyone was shooting at him, it was simply that he didn't seem to be fully immersed in the game. Suddenly a figure ran across the corridor and pulled Luke into cover with them. Clyde followed them. The figure seemed to be teaching Luke how to hold his gun properly. As Clyde walked closer, he could see the figure telling Luke to be aware of everything around him, to react like he's fighting an alien or some sort of enemy. Clyde edged closer and raised his gun. The figure spotted him and pulled Luke down, shooting Clyde's sensor. Clyde gasped as he recognised Penny standing there, her hood only partly covering her face. He pulled back his hood.

"Clyde?" Penny sniggered. "I..."

Anything she had been about to say was lost to her sniggering.

"Do you want to team up?" Luke asked. "We could be like the three musketeers."

"Only armed with laser guns instead of swords." Clyde remarked but agreed.

"I'll do it but only to make up for shooting Clyde." Penny smirked.

They edged towards the end of their hiding place.

"Clyde, cover ten O'clock. Luke, twelve. I'll get two."

"What on Earth are you going on about?" Clyde asked but pointed his gun roughly in the direction Penny had told him to.

"Oh, yeah, I'm guessing me using my UNIT training to instruct you guys is kinda cheating." Penny said.

Suddenly two teenaged boys raced past. Penny shot them both without even blinking.

"I think I wouldn't mind taking orders from Penny." Luke said, slowly.

"Okay, you two move, I'll cover you." Penny instructed with a nod.

Grantham watched the three of them. The boy who hadn't been wearing a hood had been doing badly until he had teamed up. Now he had surpassed the other boy. The three teenagers had taken a stairwell at that moment, the girl at the top, offering cover while the two boys protected the lower level.

"Not such a mummy's boy after all?" Grantham remarked.

"Someone shows promise." Kudlak said.

"There's these three kids. They'll all good but one of the boys, he's different. Improved lots just this game – faster than anyone else I've seen."

"I smell warrior blood." Kudlak said, watching as the two boys raced up the stairs to join the girl who shot out a teenager who was following them.

"The Mistress will be pleased." Kudlak remarked.

The game had finished and each of the three were slightly breathless but happy. They had all enjoyed it. They all stared up at the screen to see their scores and then checked their numbers.

"Penny, you won." Luke congratulated.

"And you came second." Penny pointed out. "And Clyde came third."

There was a large margin between the top three and the others but Clyde felt slightly defeated that the other two had beaten him.

"For Luke it's beginner's luck and Penny has had training. We should handicap you... To make it fairer for the others, of course."

"She did handicap herself." Luke replied. "She used her left hand when she's really right handed."

"She should use her foot." Clyde smirked. "Maybe we should go again."

"I thought you said this game was for kids." Penny challenged with a gentle smirk.

"Yeah, it is, but it's all part of Luke's education. Don't worry, it's not like I'm enjoying it or anything."

"Of course not."

Clyde managed a smile at Penny but he felt a slight blush dance across his cheeks. He struggled to hide it.

"That's one mighty score, soldier eight." a man said behind the three.

"I've had practise." Penny said with a gentle smirk.

"I haven't seen you here before." Grantham said.

"I practised somewhere else."

There was a tone of threat in Penny's voice that made even Clyde shudder. He knew Penny would never fore-fill the threat but the intimidation alone was enough to get Grantham to drop it. He turned to Luke.

"You're score's great too."

"Clyde says it was beginner's luck, but I've got better reflexes and hand to eye coordination than most kids." Luke said.

Grantham made an off-hand comment about Luke that Penny glared at and it was immediately dropped. To stop a fight from breaking out, Clyde interrupted.

"I was showing him what to do. He's Luke, which makes me Obi Wan Kenobi. Soldier Seven. How's it going?"

"You weren't showing him what to do. I was." Penny pointed out.

"Shut up, Leia." Clyde sniggered.

"Okay, listen up. Me and Mister Kudlak, he's the proprietor, we run a special competition for the more skilled competitors. It's Level Two. Now, what do you think? Are you up for it?"

"Yeah!" Clyde cheered.

"Good." Grantham said and began to lead the three teenagers away.

Luke turned to Clyde as they walked off.

"I thought you would have preferred to be Hans Solo." Luke told him.

"What? Why?"

"Because Hans has a thing for Leia." Luke explained. "Just like you have a thing for..."

"I don't have a thing for Penny." Clyde lied.

Maria and Sarah Jane walked up to Combat 3000 cashier. She was a bored middle aged woman who seemed more interested in her nails than the job.

"Welcome to the unique gaming experience that is Combat 3000. Zap Those Drones." the woman droned.

"Hi. I'd like to book a party. I've heard a lot about this place. Apparently, it's the _nuts_."

Maria winced and grabbed Sarah Jane's arm, whispering in her ear to never say that word again.

"I wouldn't if I were you." the woman said.

"I'm sorry?"

"For her, is it? I'd take her to see a film. You don't want to come here. It's mental. Used to be lovely and peaceful till Mister Grantham took over." the woman said.

Sarah Jane smiled. She had a name, that was one of the things she needed. The woman would probably give her more if she just let her talk.

"Him and his partner, Mister Kudlak. Not that anybody ever sees him."

"Would it be possible to speak to him?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Do you know, it always seems to be raining since they moved in. My sister's offered me a part time in the tanning salon and I'm thinking, well, you only live once." the woman continued.

Realised that they weren't going to get anything else of use out of the woman, Sarah Jane lead Maria out of the lobby. At first the woman called after them but she was distracted by a different costumer and got back to her job.

"See him? He does kickboxing. She does athletics for the county, and he's in the football A team. This is wicked! It's like Premier League for laser tag." Clyde said, scanning the other people in the room with them.

Penny recognised a few. Of the five girls in the room, she had competed – and won – against two of them in different sports events. Grantham was standing at the front of the room, scanning the teenagers. A screen behind him lit up, showing a map of the arena.

"Okay, guys. Well done for getting through to Level Two. New arena, new objective. You will be split into four disbursement groups. You will access the arena from here, here and here. When the first siren sounds, you break for cover. When the second siren sounds, the mission begins." Grantham said.

"Mission?" Luke repeated.

"The first soldier to make it through the door, down the corridor and into this chamber, will win their place in the World Championships."

"They have a laser tag World Championships?" Clyde exclaimed.

"That's kinda why he said it." Penny said.

"Now this time, you don't get one hundred lives. You get ten."

"Piece of cake." Clyde remarked as the other competitors looked around a bit shocked.

"Do you think so? A word of advice, son. The ultimate Warrior of the Future is always on guard for surprise attacks."

Maria pointed at a door to an office. She had seen the name tag and was Grantham's and Kudlak's. She guessed it was a good place to start. Sarah Jane agreed and produced her sonic, firing at the lock on the door. Maria opened it and they both slipped in.

Clyde provided cover for Penny and Luke as the two teenagers followed him up to a small alcove that gave them enough place to hide in.

"The others are playing by the old rules, last man standing. If we work as a team, we'll have the strategic advantage." Luke said.

"Great." Penny agreed.

"Like I said, piece of cake." Clyde remarked as the teenagers pushed themselves out of hiding.

"Which way now, Luke?" Penny asked.

The other teenagers hadn't had chance to memorise the map so were searching blindly for the door but Luke had memorised it completely. He was showing Penny and Clyde the way. Luke pointed down a corridor and the group went in that direction.

Kudlak was watching the Level Two competition when an alarm sounded. He tapped a few keys and then got a view of the office. He frowned when he saw Maria and Sarah Jane looking around.

"Grantham! Grantham!" he bellowed.

Papers were now covering the desk as Sarah Jane and Maria sorted through all of the files in the hope of finding something that could link Combat 3000 with aliens or the missing children.

"Perhaps I can help." Grantham said, walking in and looking at Sarah Jane and Maria.

The two turned and saw Grantham.

"Mister Grantham, I presume. Not Mister Kudlak. No, I hear he likes to stay in the shadows. I wonder why that is?"

"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" Grantham demanded.

Sarah Jane introduced herself and Maria as a journalist and her work experience girl. She did it without telling Grantham Maria's name.

"I'm doing a story on laser games and their effect on aggression levels among young people." Sarah Jane lied.

Grantham growled out the classic line 'no comment'.

"Any comment on Lance Metcalf, the boy that disappeared three days ago?"

There was silence from Grantham.

"Twenty four children have disappeared recently. Manchester, Brighton, Leeds, Inverness. All cities where there's a Combat 3000. Every time, in the middle of a freak storm. Still no comment, Mister Grantham?"

"Do you know why people come to Combat 3000, Miss Smith? They come for the guns." Grantham said, producing a small alien handgun.

Kudlak watched as Clyde saved Penny from being shot by taking out her attacker while they provided cover for Luke. He smiled.

"A soldier that fights alone, dies alone. These three will do, Mistress."

"Good, Kudlak, send them to me. Send them to me."  
>"In the name of the Emperor, it shall be done, Mistress." Kudlak said.<p>

He pressed down on a series of buttons.

Clyde, Luke and Penny looked out from behind their cover in time to see a wall panel slide open. Between them and the door was an open-plan space, easy for an attack.

"How many lives you have?" Clyde asked.

"Six." Luke answered.

"Seven." Penny smirked. "You?"

"Four." Clyde a felt a bit annoyed that the Smith kids were still managing to best him. "I think we're ahead of the opposition. Are you ready?"

Luke nodded but Penny looked a bit unsure.

"You know that feeling you get when something is just too easy. I'm getting it now. Perhaps the manager was right when he told us to be ready for a surprise attack." Penny said.  
>"Okay." the boy agreed.<p>

Penny hadn't been wrong about anything in the game yet.

"I'm ready to rock." Clyde added.  
>"I'm ready to roll." Luke smiled.<p>

"You're like the Chuckle brothers with laser guns." Penny remarked as they walked out into the space, towards the door.

Suddenly helmeted players appeared. They were older than teenagers, probably adults, and wearing black biker helmets. Each of them had a laser gun.

"Move!" Grantham barked, pointing Sarah Jane and Maria against his desk.

They moved there slowly but kept calm faces.

"Oh, please don't be offended, but this isn't the first time I've had a gun pointed at me. And guns from other planets. Oh, I'm afraid I've rather lost count."

Grantham smiled.

"Will you die happy if I tell you I'm impressed?" Grantham said.

"I'll die happy when I get Lance Metcalf and the other twenty three children you've kidnapped back to their parents safe and well." Sarah Jane snapped.

"Don't worry about them, Miss Smith." Grantham smiled. "Children adore war games."

Clyde was sure he could hear Penny whooping as they took out the helmeted players. Luke had reached the door first, making a break for it while Clyde and Penny had given him cover. He had been hit once but hadn't stopped running. Luke then provided cover for Clyde and Penny as they ran towards him. They kept their guns trained on the door even as it shut out the helmeted players. Keeping their guns up, the children made their way down the corridor they had found themselves in.

Maria noticed with a dread in her stomach that it had suddenly started raining.

"It's raining." she told Sarah Jane, wondering if the woman had come to the same conclusion as her.

"They're powering up the teleporter." Sarah Jane hissed back.

Kudlak was watching all that was going on from the control room. He was aware that Grantham was wasting time. He pulled a microphone to his lips and hissed for him to hurry up.

Grantham winced and held his ear when powerful feedback came through his radio.

"Don't you have any conscience about what you're doing with those children, Mister Grantham?" Sarah Jane asked in a last ditch attempt to get out of there without having to hurt Grantham.

She had seen a way she could manage it but she wasn't keen on the idea.

"Let me tell you about conscience. A conscience is like a stone in your shoe. You cannot begin to imagine the relief once you get rid of it. Goodbye, Miss Smith." Grantham sneered.

Sarah Jane frowned and then nodded.

"Just a moment, please. Just a moment. Bit of lippy. Last request." Sarah Jane said.

Grantham smiled and nodded. Sarah Jane pulled out her sonic and raised it to her lips, making it look like she was about to apply it. Instead she fired it at Grantham's ear. The earpiece combined with the sonic knocked Grantham to his knees. It gave Sarah Jane and Maria time to escape.

"We need to find the transporter and shut it down!" Sarah Jane said, hurrying from the room with Maria following her.

Maria and Sarah Jane stood in the control room, trying to work out what they were looking for. They could see everything on the screens but the controls were a mess of wires and strange buttons. They had no idea what controlled what. Then Sarah Jane's eyes settled on a screen. She grabbed Maria's arm and angled her gaze up to the screen. It showed Penny, Luke and Clyde sitting in the room they had found at the end of the corridor.

The three teenagers were bathed in light and they turned to each other, not understanding what was happening. Suddenly they disappeared.

"No!" Sarah Jane shouted as her children and Clyde disappeared.

"Be proud of them." Kudlak said, getting Sarah Jane and Maria to turn.

Sarah Jane stepped between Kudlak and Maria. There was no way Kudlak was going to take any more of her gang.

"Where have you sent them? Where?" Sarah Jane demanded.

"Into darkness." Kudlak hissed, cruelly.

* * *

><p>Did you get was Luke was implying with the whole Star Wars thing? I don't know who let him watch Star Wars, probably Penny, but I thought it was really funny so... YOLO!<p> 


	10. Warriors of Kudlak part 2

Luke felt sick and he could see from the way Penny had paled a few seconds ago, she felt the same way. Clyde was pacing the room, grumbling about how long they had been in there. Luke wondered whether Clyde's grumbles had been brought on by a sudden sickening feeling.

"I feel sick." Luke said.

Penny nodded to tell her brother she understood.

Clyde frowned at the two of them.

"Well, do me a favour. If this is where they hand us the trophy, don't puke in it."

"Clyde!" Penny exclaimed.

"What's puke?" Luke asked, innocently.

Penny sighed and offered Clyde a glare. It was the sort of glare that a mother gave a naughty child.

"Well, I'm not explaining that to him."

.

Sarah Jane was getting worried. Three of her group were gone and she and Maria were being threatened by an alien holding a hand gun. Kudlak was talking about how he didn't like killing unarmed people.

"But this is war." he spat, turning the gun on them.  
>A shot was fired and Sarah Jane knew that they had to move fast. She pushed Kudlak out of the way and ran out of the room, Maria following her.<p>

.

The two raced down the corridor. They were aware of Kudlak following them. As they raced past the office, they swerved to avoid the opening door as a dazed and confused Grantham stumbled out. He was grabbed by Kudlak and slammed against the wall.

"Why are you an idiot?" Kudlak asked and then continued to give chase, leaving Grantham slammed against the wall.

.

"Where now?" Maria asked, out of breath.

They had ran through corridors and found themselves in the lazer tag arena. The place was empty but the low lighting and sound effects were still there. Maria and Sarah Jane dived behind a column as a blast hit it. It was like they were engaged in a game of lazer tag, only it was highly one sided and actual lives were on the line.

Maria glanced at Sarah Jane as she stood beside her. The woman was panting gently but smiling.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"UNIT training. Never forget it. Just get a bit older, that's all." Sarah Jane pointed out.

Maria scanned the area and saw a fire escape. Sarah Jane smiled as Maria nodded towards it and they ran forwards.

"Come on!" Maria called as footsteps echoed around.

Kudlak was getting closer. Sarah Jane produced her sonic and soniced the door with a smile. She opened it and they ran out.

.

As soon as they reached the outside, Sarah Jane soniced the door locked again.

"What about the others? Those aliens have them!" Maria tried as Sarah Jane began to walk down the alley way.

"They're not there any more, but we'll find them. First we have to find out who we're up against."

.

Clyde was pacing the room. Luke and Penny were still sitting on the floor, watching as their friend got restless.

"I thought you were getting worried before." Penny remarked.

"Nah. Adrenaline hype, that's all. Look, nothing's happened to us. We're just stuck in this room off the arena waiting for that Grantham guy to come get us."

"I don't know, Clyde." Luke said. "Something's not right."

Suddenly the door slid open. Several helmeted men opened the door and reached towards the teenagers. Luke and Penny got to their feet.

"About time." Clyde moaned.

"Shut up!" Penny ordered. "They're slabs."

"What?" Luke called as the helmeted men grabbed all three teenagers and forced them out of the room.

The teenagers then noticed the crate. Clyde began to call out, struggling. Penny looked at Luke was Clyde was thrown in, then her and then Luke. The wooden board was put up and bolted shut. The teenagers all winced at the sound of being locked in a cramped condition which wouldn't have been comfortable if one of them had been in there, let alone three. Then there was the sound of wheels beginning to turn and the teenagers knew they were being moved somewhere.

.

Kudlak was pacing the room, growling at Grantham.

"You compromised the mission!"

"What?" Grantham winced.

"The woman and female child have escaped!" Kudlak spat, getting really close to Grantham.

Grantham pointed at Kudlak in a weak but accusing way.  
>"You went after them. If they got away, it's your fault."<p>

"Your security of this compound should never have allowed them access. You're a liability to the success of this operation and to the survival of my people. You are a disgrace to your own species, Grantham. You have always sickened me. Killing you will be a service to both our worlds."

Kudlak swung out his gun and pointed it at Grantham. Grantham jumped and pressed himself against the wall.

"No! Please!" Grantham begged. "Please!"

Suddenly a screen lit up and Kudlak turned to face his Mistress. He bowed his head slightly.

"Kudlak, what is happening?" she demanded.

"The mission is compromised, Mistress. We must evacuate."

The Mistress denied Kudlak and demanded more children.

"But security has been breached." Kudlak protested.

"Do not argue, Kudlak. I am your Mistress." the alien on the screen snapped.

"Yes, Mistress." Kudlak said slowly.

"It sounds like you'll be needing me around a little bit more, Mister Kudlak. I think I know how to sort your security problem." Grantham said, reaching into his pocket and producing a business card.

.

Sarah Jane rushed into the attic. She looked straight at Mr Smith and called him out.

"Penny, Luke and Clyde have been abducted by an alien. I need you to identify the species."

Knowing what Sarah Jane required, the computer changed it's screen to a computer identification system. Only this one involved alien species, not people.

"Please describe." Mr Smith said.

"Humanoid. Brownish face." Sarah Jane began as Maria walked into the attic.

She worked out what was happening as soon as Sarah Jane began because she joined in.

"Kind of slimy." Maria said.

"Wide cheekbones."

Mr Smith slid a set of alien cheekbones into place but Sarah Jane shook her head and requested something wider.

"And big eyes." Maria added.

The alien they had been before appeared on the screen. Sarah Jane and Maria both nodded.

"Uvodni. Their home planet is in Spiral Cluster of the Dragon Nebula, thirty four thousand light years from Earth." Mr Smith revealed.

"His name is Kudlak." Sarah Jane said, needing information about just one.

"Accessing Uvodni database. Kudlak. General Uvlavad Kudlak. One of the Uvodni Signus Brigade's most decorated warriors."

"A soldier!" Maria exclaimed.

She didn't like the sound of that.

"Uvodni were part of a planetary alliance that fought the Malakh in the Ghost Wars of the Horsehead Nebula." Mr Smith added.

"Who are the Malakh?" Maria asked.

Sarah Jane shuddered at the thought. The last time she had fought the Malakh, when Penny had been six, they had crash landed on Earth and blamed Earth for their crashing. They had almost killed her and Penny and would have if it hadn't have been for Torchwood showing up. She explained this to Maria with a frown.

"When other allied worlds had been crushed by the Malakh Empire, the Uvodni continued to fight." Mr Smith reported. "Kudlak was forced to leave the front line after the Uvodni suffered major causalities and he was injured."

"But it still doesn't explain why he's taken the children and the others." Maria said.

Sarah Jane thought over everything that had happened and found an explanation.

"Remember what Grantham said in his office? Children love war games. An old soldier like Kudlak, he wouldn't just retire. I think he's been here recruiting. I think he's looking for soldiers."

.

"What are those things? You called them slabs." Clyde asked.

"Basic slave drones. Like androids made of leather." Penny explained. "Vice like grips. They normally travel in pairs. Biggest group I've seen in a long time."

With a sigh, Clyde checked his phone and frowned. He had no signal. He got the others to check their phones and they found that Luke's was out of battery and Penny's had no signal.

"See, give a teenager the memory of ten thousand humans and they still forget to charge their phones." Penny joked.

"You stole my charger!" Luke moaned.

"How can you two be arguing about phone chargers at a time like this?" Clyde asked. "This is not good."  
>"I think you're right. Did you feel it back then? The floor was vibrating." Luke pointed out.<p>

"What do you mean?"

"Very slightly." Penny said. "But it was there. It made me and Luke feel sick."

"What does that mean then?" Clyde asked.

"It wasn't doing that before. I don't think we're at Combat 3000 any more." Luke said.

The crate was soon brought to a stop and the teenagers heard a door closing. Penny and Clyde both pulled off their sensor jackets. As Clyde sat there trying to make a plan, Penny began to pick apart the sensor. She pulled out a wire.

"Luke, you're near the bolt right?" Penny inquired. "Hook the pin and open the door."

"What?" Luke exclaimed.

Penny handed him the wire and showed him the loop she had made. Luke nodded, took the wire and began to work.

.

It took Luke about ten minutes to open the crate. He shifted around and kicked the board so the crate opened. The three teenagers climbed out and smiled.

"If you've got any idea what's going on around here, I'd love to hear it." Clyde said.

"Evidently, we've been kidnapped." Penny said, scanning the crates. "Along with a lot of other kids."  
>"Who's there?" a voice called.<p>

"Did you here that?" Clyde asked, looking around.

Penny and Luke frowned and walked towards a crate. They opened it and looked at the girl inside. She smiled slightly at them as Luke helped her out.

"What's you name?" Penny asked.

"Jen. Who are you?" Jen inquired, looking at the three of them.

Penny sent Luke because simply because she didn't trust him not to attempt on of his famed overly formal greetings.

"Go and open the crates." Penny said.

"I'm Clyde. The girl's Penny. Luke's at the back. Look, have you got a reason for sitting in a crate or are you like us, itching for a clue to what on Earth is going on around here?"

"I won level 2 at Combat 3000. Next thing, those jokers are locking me up." Jen explained.

Luke suddenly got their attention as he helped Lance out of the crate he was in.  
>"Lance! Look, I don't want to freak you out, mate, but your mum's going out of her mind worrying about you." Clyde said.<p>

"Yeah, our mum is working on the story."

.

Sarah Jane was in the attic trying to work out if she could go after her children and their friend.

"Mister Smith, do you have a trace on the storm today when Luke and Clyde were taken?" Sarah Jane asked, trying what she could. "And is it possible to track the transmat beam to calculate where it's taken the boys and Penny?"

"Detection of such a transmission trail requires synchronous data scraping in eleven dimensions around Combat 3000." Mr Smith said.

Sarah Jane inquired about it and Mr Smith said he could do it. Then there was a smashing sound from downstairs. Maria and Sarah Jane shared worried glances and then Sarah Jane decided to go down.

.

Sarah Jane walked into the lounge. She smiled when she saw Grantham. She had actually been expecting a visit from him.

"I know, I probably should have called you first, but..."

He shrugged with a smile. He pulled out his gun and pointed it as Sarah Jane. Maria walked down and gasped. She didn't like what to hurt Grantham but they didn't have any weapons.

"Not at all, Mister Grantham. I'm always delighted to study new forms of human low life in the comfort of my home. Collaborating with an alien child abductor. Tut, tut, tut. That really is a new depth in the low life stakes."

Maria had an idea and crept upstairs. Grantham turned so he was blocking the door and Sarah Jane was standing the centre of the room. Sarah Jane felt angry. This man had lead to her two children to end up in the hands of an alien child abductor who wanted them to be soldiers.

"You're despicable." Sarah Jane said.

Grantham laughed and smiled.

"And you? You're done for." he said and prepared to fire.

Maria suddenly leapt out behind Grantham and pressed the Cibrianite flux metal against his neck, making him collapse. Sarah Jane smiled and moved over him.  
>"No, Mr Grantham. I think you're the one who's done with."<p>

.

There were eight teenagers, all of them sitting on crates or pacing the holding deck.

"We played all over the place. London, Brighton..." Clyde began.

"Manchester, Leeds and Inverness." Penny finished with a weak smirk. "Kids from all over the country must have gone missing. But how did we get here?"

"What's it for? Who are they and what do they want with us?" someone from the group of teenagers called.

Penny shrugged and looked at Luke and Clyde who both looked as clueless as she was.

"I played that stupid game again and again just to get to level two, and I end up in a crate. What's going on?" Lance asked.

Suddenly Penny looked alarmed. She could tell something was wrong. She could hear footsteps. She glanced at the others and then Jen heard it as well.

"Someone's coming."

"Duck behind the crates." Clyde ordered.

The teenagers did as he requested and ducked behind them. Penny glanced out from behind a crate just in time to see two slabs moving towards the crate that she and the boys had been locked in. One of them opened the crate and they both looked inside.

"Just stick with me. I'll look after you." Clyde said, turning to face Jen, who he had ducked near.

She was gone. Suddenly Penny and Jen appeared behind the men in their crates, the two of them pushing the slabs into the crate.

"Just stick with me. I'll look after you." Jen laughed as Clyde got out from behind a crate.

"You, I expected that from." Clyde said, pointing at Penny. "But I've barely even met you and you're already showing me up."

Clyde laughed as his pointing finger shifted to Jen. She smiled. Luke was already moving towards the door.

"Come on." he said.

The guards began to shoot at the crate, blasting it into tiny pieces.

"Run! Lets go!" Jen shouted.

The teenagers made for the open door. Penny and Clyde hung back.

"This might actually be more fun than lazer tag." Penny laughed.

.

They were in some sort of passage way. The other teenagers stopped, confused, so, pretending they knew where they were going, Clyde, Luke and Penny moved to the front. Jen followed them. It turned out that Lance was leading the group.

"Where do we go?" Lance asked.

"This way." Luke said, pointing down a corridor.

"Why that way?" Jen asked.

"Why not?" Penny replied, beginning to head down the way Luke had pointed.

The other teenagers followed her, going through with in a gentle jog. Suddenly Lance's attention turned to a window half way down the corridor. Other teenagers were looking that way, muttering to each other.

"When did the moon turn blue?" Lance asked.

"That isn't the moon." Luke pointed out.

They looked out and saw the planet below them. It was wonderful, amazing. It was beautiful. Penny pointed it out.

"We are a long way from home." Clyde said slowly.

.

"They're in space?" Maria exclaimed.

"In Earth's orbit." Mr Smith corrected.

Maria was clearly getting upset at the hopelessness of their situation. Her friends were trapped on a spaceship with no way to escape.

"It could be worse." Sarah Jane reasoned. "The transporter could have sent them right across the galaxy to the Uvodni world."

Sarah Jane dreaded that. She had made a point of not allowing aliens to take Penny off the planet. If her children and Clyde had ended up on an alien planet, Sarah Jane and her friends would do anything to get them back and Sarah Jane would rather not have the Doctor stride onto an alien home world and into a war zone.

"But they're in space. It doesn't matter whether it's Earth's orbit or the planet of the apes. Unless you've got a friend at NASA that'll lend us a shuttle, we're stuffed, and so are Penny, Luke and Clyde!" Maria yelped.

"We're going to get them back. Mr Grantham will help us get them back." Sarah Jane assured her friend.

.

"It's a trick. It's got to be a trick. We didn't fly anywhere." Jen said.

"No, we didn't." Penny said. "We teleported.

"What? Like beam me up Scotty?"

"Trust me, it's real. Me and my friends deal with stuff like this all the time." Clyde said, putting his arms around Luke and Penny.

Suddenly a bang sounded. Everyone turned and looked at the sparks that were flying off the wall. Someone was shooting at the teenagers.

"And that's a real gun. Come on!" Penny said, beginning to push a few of the group down the corridor.

They began to run, Luke in front, leading the way. Clyde in the middle with Lance and Jen. Penny at the back, helping the people who were getting left behind.

"If we're really in space, how are we going to get away?" Lance asked as they ran.

"We'll find a way." Clyde assured him.

Suddenly Luke turned a corner and halted the group. Kudlak stood in his way. Battling to the front, Clyde and Penny joined their friend. They stood defiantly staring at Kudlak.

"My warriors." Kudlak hissed. "Such very fine warriors."

The teenagers were about to turn back when a group of slabs blocked the corridor behind them.

.

The group were herded into a control room which Luke likened to the bridge of a ship only because he had come to the conclusion they were on a spaceship.

"What are we doing here? What's with all this warrior stuff? All we did was win a game of laser tag!"

"Maybe that's it. Maybe this is just level 3!" Lance squealed, actually hoping it to be true.

Penny shot down his hopes with a look of disbelief that Clyde thought was a bit harsh.

"Silence!" Kudlak snapped and immediately the teenagers stopped muttering to each other.

"Welcome my warriors." the Mistress said, appearing on the screen.

Penny and Clyde looked at each other with confusion while Luke pointed out that they weren't warriors.  
>"None of those before you had the initiative to escape the holding deck. None forced my return to the ship to deal with them. You are good warrior stock." Kudlak said.<p>

Penny and Luke had begun to wonder over to a control panel with Penny silently telling Clyde to distract the aliens. He moved in front of the two of them so they could work.

"This is such rubbish." Clyde said.  
>"You have proved yourself in the arena. You have hearts of heroes. You will not suffer our enemies to live and we will honour your sacrifice." the Mistress said.<p>

"But we were playing!" Jen pointed out.  
>"And what is play if it is not preparation for life?"<p>

Penny registered the comment as her and Luke tried to make sense of the controls. If Luke ever asked her what was the purpose in games again, she might just use that.

"Look, fight your own war. We're kids. We want to go home." Clyde said, trying to seem as child-like as possible.

Suddenly a spark flew out of the control panel Luke and Penny were working on. Clyde rushed forwards and pulled the two of them back in case it was about to explode.

"Such loyalty to each other." the Mistress remarked. "You have chosen well, Kudlak."

"We could just refuse to fight." Penny smirked.

"Then you will die a coward's death." the Mistress snapped back.

.

Sarah Jane and Maria lead Grantham through the arena of Combat 3000. They had zip-tied his wrists in front of him and were trying to get him to tell there were the teleporter was.

"Are you going to beam yourself up to the Uvodni ship and take them on with your lipstick?" Grantham laughed.

Maria listened as Sarah Jane and Grantham fired points between each other, trying to work out which one had the upper hand. Grantham was only wasting time. Somewhere above their heads, her three best friends in the world were being held by some alien and getting prepared to go and fight some aliens on a random planet the other end of the galaxy! She just wanted to get them all back safe and sound. Finally Sarah Jane won the upper hand and Grantham began to talk.

"Firstly it's not Kudlak that calls all the shots..." Grantham began.

.

The children had been taken down to the holding deck. Kudlak and his Mistress were alone in the bridge. When Kudlak inquired about the war, he got the same vague answer he always did and then anger from his Mistress as he inquired further. Finally he gave in and let his Mistress give him his orders.

"Prepare the recruits for teleportation to the front." the Mistress barked.

"Yes, Mistress." Kudlak said.

.

"Y'know, sometimes there's times you gotta fight. Stand up for what you believe in and stuff." one of the teenagers reasoned.

"I get that but I don't believe in whatever those aliens believe in." Penny pointed out. "Kids aren't soldiers and they never should be."

"It isn't our fight either." Clyde added.

The group were sitting in the holding deck, trying to think everything through and make sense of it all. They were going to work on a plan later. Luke however had wondered off, taking Clyde's phone with him. Clyde had been a bit annoyed about it but if it helped the group, he didn't care.

"Penny, can I have your phone?" Luke called over. "You're phone is a better model than Clyde's and I've already done some programming on it."

Penny winced. She liked her phone and she didn't like it when Luke tampered with it. The last time he had got hold of it, he had done some really cool stuff but he had also accidentally wiped the hard-drive when he was reversing the changes because all of her phones had to be checked by UNIT and he triggered one of their traps that made the phone useless. Now she had got a new one from UNIT, she didn't want Luke to wreck it.

"Just don't break it." Penny said, throwing it across the room at Luke.

Luke caught it and smiled.

"Good catch, bro." Penny congratulated and then got back to the conversation.  
>"Whatever is going on across the galaxy has nothing to do with us." Jen agreed, getting back to the earlier conversation.<p>

"Kudlak doesn't see it like that." Lance muttered.

"He wouldn't." Clyde grumbled.

"Forget Kudlak. We need to get out of here before we are sent to the other side of the galaxy. My mum gets annoyed at me if I leave the neighbourhood, leaving the planet's orbit would make her kill me." Penny joked.

"But what can we do? We're on a spaceship. The only way we're getting off is if they send us into the middle of some alien war."

"Or we steal a shuttlecraft." Luke called over.

Penny and Clyde stood up and moved towards Luke.

"What have you done to my phone?" Penny gasped, staring at the wires that lead in and out of it.  
>"I wired it up to the ship's computer." Luke said innocently.<p>

"He did what?" Jen exclaimed.

"He's a bit of a geek." Penny whispered to Jen as she walked over.

"He's king of the geeks." Clyde said, loud enough for Luke to hear.

Luke looked rather sad at the comment.

"But we love him for it." Penny added.

"This is a plan of the spacecraft." Luke said, showing them the screen of Penny's phone.

The screen was now covered in a series of lines that resembled a map.

"We're here." Luke said.

"And that's where they took us to see the Mistress." Penny said, thanking her UNIT training for making her good with maps.

"And I'm pretty sure that this is a..." Luke said, pointing at a space on the map.

"Shuttlecraft!" Clyde finished with pride.

He patted Luke on the back.

"Greet. He can wire a phone up to an alien spacecraft but can he drive a shuttle?" Jen asked.

Clyde looked at her with a frown.

_Why did everyone have to keep putting Luke down? What's he got to do to get a little bit of appreciation? _Clyde thought.

"But he can wire my phone up to an alien spacecraft. Give him a break!"  
>"It doesn't matter if he can or can't. We're not going anywhere." Lance said, tapping on the large metal doors that blocked their exit.<p>

"Want to wager?" Luke said with a smirk he copied off Penny.

The door opened and the teenagers smiled. Jen lead the way out.

"Bet, Luke, it's a bet." Clyde corrected.

"But that one was very close." Penny said, in an almost mothering way.

Luke, Clyde and Penny then left and the door shut behind them.

.

Grantham watched Sarah Jane and Maria on the camera. He was watching the two of them while they were in the teleportation chamber. Sarah Jane made one last threat to the man before he sent her and Maria off onto the spaceship.

.

Luke was leading the way with the phone. He needed to find another place to wire the phone up soon, not because he couldn't remember the way but he wanted to make sure that he could get all the doors open.

"Not far now." Luke said, leading the group down a corridor.

He walked almost straight into a group of slabs. Penny moved in front of her brother, making sure that he was safe. Suddenly there was a gun shot. The teenagers ducked and hurried back down a different corridor.  
>"We can't fight for them if they grease us!" one of the teenagers pointed out.<p>

"Maybe we're too much trouble." Jen replied.

"Oh, yeah, we are!" Penny smiled, high-fiveing Luke as they ran down the corridor.

They came to a door and frowned. The slabs were getting closer to them, hunting them down the corridors of the space ship. Luke managed to get to the front and wired up Penny's phone. Some of the teenagers were beginning to panic.

"Just stay calm." Penny ordered, holding back the others so Luke had space to work.

"Look, I don't want to freak you out, Penny, but I'm kinda losing calm as a option here." Clyde said.

.

Maria and Sarah Jane ducked down a corridor to avoid a patrol. Sarah Jane hoped that the security was something to do with the fact that three of her gang were on the spaceship and leading some sort of rebellion. The two of them looked down at the planet they would see out of the window with a mixture of awe and wonder. Sarah Jane had seen it before but she had never expected to see the planet like that again. Maria was simply amazed by it completely. Then they had to go. They had to rescue their friends.

.

Luke was still trying to hack the door mechanism. The teenagers were getting really worried, even Clyde was. Penny was remaining calm and in control, giving Luke chance to work as she tried to stop the teenagers from panicking.

"I've gone past worried. I'm not even stopping at anxious. I'm..."  
>"Clyde, if you don't shut up right now then I'm actually going to tell Luke to stop working!" Penny said, anger seeping into her voice.<p>

Clyde looked at her strangely as he realised that he was beginning to act like the rest of the teenagers there. It was a bit scary that he was beginning to relapse from all the things he had seen simply because he wasn't on the 'home turf' as it were.

"Sorry, but can't Luke hurry up?"

The door opened and Luke turned to them all with a proud smile. Penny smiled as well and high-fived her brother. They let the other teenagers go past and continued to grin like maniacs.

"You're enjoying this." Clyde pointed out.  
>"Aren't you?" Penny inquired as she brushed past him.<p>

As if the smiling was contagious, Clyde began to smile as well. A grin danced across his face.

"Clyde, look at this." Luke said, trying to show Clyde the phone.

Suddenly a blast hit the space just above Luke's head. Clyde pulled him into cover and then lead him through the door, getting Luke to close it while he was on the other side.

.

The Mistress watched as Sarah Jane and Maria walked in. She began to question them but Sarah Jane answered simply with a demand for her children and their friend.

.

Luke was looking at Penny's phone. He had enjoyed but been confused about what he had come across. There was something strange about it. They were walking along a metal grill, running along. Penny looked down.

"Look, it's the shuttlecraft!" Penny explained. "Great work, Luke!"

"We made it!" Clyde cheered.

Guards entered in through a door behind them and the teenagers began to run. Jen grabbed Luke's hand and made sure he was at the front of the group. Suddenly Kudlak stepped out in front of the group.

"Warriors, I salute you. Yours is without doubt the finest war blood I have been honoured to gather. And now it is time to leave, to take your place on the Uvodni front line."

.

Sarah Jane and the Mistress were still caught in verbal sparring. The human was trying to convince the alien that she had no right to take the children. Maria joined in, worried that her friends were already being forced into a war. Then Kudlak walked in.

"The warriors are ready, Mistress." Kudlak said as his eyes settled on Sarah Jane and Maria. "Intruders!"  
>The teenagers were forced in. Penny and Luke's eyes lit up when they saw their mother. Maria smiled.<p>

"Execute them!" the Mistress snapped.

Penny and Luke ran between the alien and their mother.

"Don't you dare!" Penny snapped.

"What a pity." Kudlak said, pointing his gun straight at the teenagers. "I had such hopes for you two, young warriors."

The gun was pressed against Luke's forehead.

"NO!" Clyde cried, running forwards.

It was actually Jen who pushed the gun down from Luke's forehead.

"They're not warriors! None of them. They're just children." Sarah Jane said.  
>"War changes everything." Kudlak said, getting ready to aim his gun once again.<p>

"Stop!" Luke cried. "The war is over."  
>"What is this?" Kudlak demanded.<p>

Luke brushed past him and walked over to the control panel, holding Penny's phone.

"I found this in your computer banks." Luke said.

"This is trickery." Kudlak spat, grabbing Penny by the shoulder and pointing the gun at her head. "Step away from the controls or..."  
>"No! Let him show you." Penny said. "If it's a trick, you can kill me."<p>

"I hacked the ship's computer. That's how we escaped. I found this by accident."

Luke put the video on the screen despite the Mistress' protests. A male alien dressed in grand clothes was on the screen. Kudlak released Penny so he could bow at the image. Sarah Jane pulled her daughter towards her protectively.

"Vessels of the Imperial Fleet, this is your Emperor. We have agreed an armistice with the Malakh. After all these centuries, peace at last. Come home, all my proud warriors. Come home. We have much to re-build." the male alien on the screen said.

"What trick is this?" Kudlak said, reaching towards Penny.

Sarah Jane moved between the creature and her daughter. Kudlak reminded Penny of their deal.

"It's not a trick! You can check the data banks. This says the message is ten years old!" Luke said.

"The Mistress would have told me. We would have gone home. This is a trick to destroy us!"

"No, Kudlak. We don't want to destroy you, no matter what your Mistress has told you. Earth wants to live in peace with its neighbours."

"Mistress is this true? Is the war ended all these years?" Kudlak asked.

Penny pushed past Kudlak and her mother to stand with Luke. Clyde was released by the slabs and he walked over to them.

"Are you okay?" he asked Penny.

"Yeah. Just took a little bit of faith in my brother." Penny answered, putting her arm around her brother.

Then they focused on the screen. The Mistress seemed to panicking, the screen jumping and flickering.

"Peace does not compute. Peace does not... not compute."

"The Mistress is a computer!" Penny exclaimed.  
>"A computer program." Luke muttered.<br>"She must have buried the message from your Emperor!" Maria concluded.

"Peace is an anomaly. It does not compute. Without war I cannot exist. The battlefield is our home, Kudlak. Peace is a stranger's land. We have no place there." the Mistress snapped.

"You may not, but I do. All these years of peace wasted. I thought the Malakh were my enemy, but all this time it was you. And I will not suffer my enemies to live." Kudlak said.

He raised his gun and fired at the screen. Luke leapt forwards and shielded Jen from a shower of sparks. Kudlak then turned to Sarah Jane and handed her his gun.

"The Mistress is dead and I have committed an unforgivable crime against your people and your family. Your free and my life is yours to take."

Sarah Jane took the gun and dropped it to the floor.

"Taking life is never the answer, General Kudlak, whether we've been wronged by one man or a whole planet. It's always the innocents that suffer." Sarah Jane told him.

"I am not an innocent, but maybe I can find some of those that were. The ones I sent far away and that still survive. Perhaps I can return them and one day find some peace for myself."

"Thank you." Sarah Jane said, walking over to her children and protectively putting her arms around them. "We're leaving now."

.

The group had left Combat 3000 and the teenagers were smiling, quite a few were dancing.

"Looks like Grantham's done a runner." Maria remarked.

"We could have Mr Smith hunt him down." Penny pointed out.

Clyde suddenly pulled Penny and Luke to his side. They stood near Lance.

"Lance, we're sorry about what we called you." Luke said.

"Yeah, if someone had made any jokes about my name with any sort of link to my dad they would have been kicked." Penny said.

"It's okay." Lance said weakly.

"No it's not." Luke said. "We've been horrible and..."

Luke continued to apologise. Clyde and Penny backed away.  
>"You were rather panicked up there." Penny said.<br>"I kinda like having my feet on this planet."

"That was my first time off world."

"You seemed pretty calm." Clyde pointed out. "Unlike me?"

"Well, one of us had to keep level-headed and Luke was too busy being geeky."

Then Jen began to walk over.

"Heads up." Penny said.

Clyde and her watched as Jen walked past them and tapped Luke's shoulder. He turned and looked at her. She kissed his cheek. Clyde and Penny began to snigger.

"That was a kiss?" Luke exclaimed.

"You saved our skins, Luke. You definitely saved my life. You deserved it. In fact..."

She kissed him on the lips. Luke looked completely shell-shocked and then he took a step back, a bit amazed.

"No way. Luke is not going to gone on a date before I am." Penny said, beginning to walk forwards.

"What? You've never had a boyfriend?"  
>"In school everyone thought I was a weirdo. Pretty but weird." Penny smirked back at Clyde.<p>

When Penny walked over, Jen smiled.

"You look after him." Jen said.

"I'll try but trouble follows him around." Penny smirked, patting her brother's back.

Then Jen left. Luke looked at Penny and expected her to have something to say. She didn't look at him and wondered off.

Luke was highly confused.

.

Lance thanked Sarah Jane and her friends as he walked towards his house. He knocked on the door and his mother hugged him the moment she saw him. Sarah Jane stood there silently and waved. Lance began to tell his mother about where he had been as he disappeared into his house. The others got into the car. Clyde, Penny and Luke climbed into the back. They sat together with smiles on their faces but Luke was silent.

"Luke, what's wrong? If you're missing Jen then..." Penny trailed off.

She was sure she could get Mr Smith to find Jen's number for Luke.

"I've been thinking."

"Oh no." Clyde moaned with a smirk.  
>"You said anything I wanted to know, just ask, all right?" Luke checked.<p>

Clyde nodded. He didn't think Luke could think of a really bad question.  
>"Encyclopaedia Clydannica. I'm your man."<p>

"Tell me about girls." Luke requested.

Clyde looked at Penny for help. She smiled and shook her head.

"He asked Encyclopaedia Clydannica. I'm staying out of this one."


	11. School reunion

**This is dedicated to GemYin and my family. GemYin requested this and my family had to put up with constant viewing of this episode because I kept getting distracted by the Doctor and forgetting to actually write the story from it.**

Luke was helping Penny sort through some old photo albums. He was looking at each one so they were making slow progress but Penny didn't mind much. Some of the pictures were of travels around the world, showing Sarah Jane and Penny standing in front of different monuments, other were of people. Some of the people Luke recognised, like Captain Jack, others he weren't so familiar with, like a spiky haired skinny an dressed in a pinstripe suit who appeared frequently over pictures that shows Penny from six months to four years.

"Who's that man?" Luke asked, holding up one picture.

Penny smiled and took it from him.

"Guess." she smirked.

"That Brig man you and Sarah Jane keep talking about."

"No."

"Your father." Luke tried.

Penny frowned and shook her head.

"It's the Doctor."

"The Doctor!" Luke exclaimed.

"Yeah. He was... He was there a lot when I was really young." Penny said slowly.

"So how did you meet the Doctor?"

"How did I meet him or how did he meet me?"

"What?" Luke asked, confused.

"They're a different thing." Penny said. "Time travel and all that."

* * *

>"Okay, how you met him. Tell me that."<p><p>

"Penelope, please, please sweetheart. Stop crying. Mummy's here." Sarah Jane said. "It's you, your stupid TARDIS set her off again."

"Future her loves that noise." the Doctor protested. "That's why I'm here. I met future Penny, found out her birthday and bing bang bosh... I'm here."

"She's six months old." Sarah Jane informed the spiky haired Doctor.

"Well, I wanted to miss out the actual birth obviously and..." the Doctor trailed off. "So, is Penny getting your last name or her father's?"

"UNIT won't let me give her her father's surname." Sarah Jane said sadly, struggling to be heard over the crying. "Does your sonic stop babies from crying?"

"No." the Doctor said, taking the baby.

He paused for a moment and looked like he was listening.

"Well that's just rude." the man exclaimed. "I'm not a Jack in the Box."

He paused again and Penelope giggled in his arms.

"And I'm not taking you with me."

"Her name is Penelope." Sarah Jane introduced.

The Doctor paused to listen to the bay.

"No, even now she prefers Penny." he remarked, cradling the baby. "She says that if she had the decency of calling you 'Mummy' like you asked, you should call her Penny like she asks."

Sarah Jane sighed, frowning at the Doctor.

"Please tell me that you don't speak baby."

"But that would be lying."

Suddenly there was a voice from the TARDIS.

"Doctor! That alarm is going off!" the voice called.

"Alright, Rose. Don't touch anything. I'll deal with it. Make sure your boyfriend doesn't touch anything as well."

The Doctor turned to Penny and smiled, kissing her forehead.

* * *

>"I'll be back, kiddie. In a week maybe."<p><p>

"And then he was gone. But he kept coming back." Penny said slowly. "Mum got used to him showing up with gifts and treats for me. He would show up in different moods but he would always be there for me."

"What happened?"

* * *

>"The life we lead is full of dangers, Luke. I was four..."<p><p>

"Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" Penny called as she raced down the stairs.

"Penny!" Sarah Jane yelped as her four year old daughter leapt into her arms. "You're getting too big to run at me like that."

"Sorry, mummy but..."

There was a knock at the front door and Penny ran over to it, standing on her tiptoes as she tried to turn the key. Sarah Jane walked over and took the girl's hand from the key.

"Who is it?" Sarah Jane asked.

"It's Doctor! Doctor! Doctor! Doctor!" Penny squealed, leaping up and down.

Sarah Jane opened the door and smiled at the Doctor. He walked past Sarah Jane and picked up Penny, kissing her forehead.

"How's my little alien hunter?" he asked.

"Fine!" Penny cheered, getting put down.

The Doctor smiled and ruffled Penny's hair, gaining a few childish giggles.

"Do you want to do to the park?" the Doctor asked.

"You need to take her to school." Sarah Jane said. "I'm working on a story at the moment and I was hoping that someone would be able to take her so I wouldn't be late for the press conference.

"What? You go to school now. Since when?"

"It's her first term."

"Is she in her uniform?" the Doctor asked. "She looks very smart."

He pinched Penny's cheeks.

"Come on, lets get you to school."

"Can we take the TARDIS?" Penny asked.

.

The Doctor kissed Penny's forehead at the gates to the primary school. He had been holding her hand the whole way and she had skipped there. They had talked about the Doctor's travels and Penny talked about her time at school.

"You have a good day." the Doctor said.

The Doctor kissed her cheek and then took her over to a teacher.

"Hello, this is my um... God-daughter, Penny. It might be me coming to pick her up. Her mum is busy."

"That's okay. Penny's a good little girl. So what's your name?" the teacher, a woman with long blonde hair, said, kneeling down and smiling.

"You can call me the Doctor." the Doctor said.

"I'm Miss Brooks." the teacher said.

Penny noticed a flashing blue light through the woman's hair and, as the Doctor began to say his final goodbyes, she pointed it out.

"Flashing blue light?" the Doctor said. "Penny, you've got quite an imagination."

"But it was on her ear! Has she got ear achy?" Penny asked.

"No, Penny be good. It'll either be me or mummy showing up." the Doctor said.

He smiled at Penny and nodded. She pouted.

"I want to go with you!" Penny said. "TARDIS!"

She began to tap her foot against the floor. The Doctor frowned and shook his head.

"Maybe after school we can go and get a snack." the Doctor said. "Me, you and your mummy."

"YAY!" Penny squealed and the Doctor walked away with a smile.

.

Miss Brooks smiled as she walked towards Penny.

"So that was your god-father."

"Yeah! Doctor!"

"Penny, do you want to come inside?"

"Okay." Penny laughed.

She began to walk towards the school building with Miss Brook.

"What's the flashy thing in your ear?" Penny asked.

"Penny, I've got a few friends for you to meet."

Miss Brook lead the girl inside and closed the door behind the two of them.

"Mummy!" Penny screamed.

.

"Doctor!" Penny squealed as she ran. "Mummy!"

Sarah Jane and the Doctor looked at each other as Penny raced out of the school. It was the end of the day and the Doctor had picked up Sarah Jane so they would go and get something to eat together when Penny left. Penny was holding a picture draw in a childish stick figure way.

"Look what I did!"

"Oh, Penny, it's beautiful. Is that me?" Sarah Jane asked, pointing at the taller female stick figure.

"Yeah."

"And is that me?" the Doctor asked, looking at a tall stick figure with spikes coming out of their head.

Penny nodded and pointed to a blue box next to him.

"That's TARDIS and there's me."

"And who are those?" Sarah Jane asked, taking the picture from Penny.

She pointed at two stick figure men drawn in silver. The men were strange; they didn't have hair or smiles. They had lines coming out from the side of their heads that met in the centre and a line in the centre of their faces for a mouth.

"They're my new friends." Penny smiled and began to skip down the road.

Sarah Jane and the Doctor looked at each other worried. They hurried after Penny and caught up with her.

"Hey, kiddo." the Doctor said, getting down on one knee. "Who are your new friends?"

"They're nice. They want to meet you." Penny smiled.

The Doctor reached forwards and touched Penny's cheeks. He gasped and brushed back her hair. There was an earpiece in each ear and the Doctor recognised them instantly. He noted with horror that both of them were lit with blue lights.

"Cybermen." the Doctor breathed. "Penny, can you give me your arm?"

He took her pulse. Sarah Jane stood behind him, demanding to know what was going on.

"At least we've to a chance." the Doctor said, taking Penny by the hand and beginning to walk her down the streets. "We need to get Penny back, get K-9 to scan her."

"Why?" Sarah Jane demanded. "Doctor, please, she's the only family I have."

The Doctor turned to Sarah Jane with fury in his eyes. Behind it, however, Sarah Jane could see fear.

"I don't know how it happened but a group of Cybermen have got to Penny. They've put earpieces – mind control – over her and we just have to think ourselves lucky that Penny isn't dead because most people would be. The Cybermen normal kill the people before they earpiece them up."

Sarah Jane felt her pulse quicken. She had dealt with Cybermen before. If they had any sort of control over her daughter, she needed to get her daughter free. Penny looked at the two of them strangely.

"What are Cybermen?"

"Your friends apart from the fact that they want you dead. Penny." the Doctor said to Penny. "We need to get you off the streets."

"Why?" Penny asked.

"Back to the house." Sarah Jane said and the Doctor scooped Penny up.

.

Penny was sitting in the attic. It was more like a study than it was in modern day but there were also children toys on the floor. K-9 was rolling about.

"Why Penny? Why?" the Doctor said pacing the room. "Unless... Oh no..."

"What?" Sarah Jane demanded, taking her eyes off her daughter for the first time since the girl had been brought into the attic.

Penny was sitting on the floor, totally unaware of what was happening. She was talking to K-9 and he was not showing any concern about her situation despite scanning her and confirming that there was Cyber-technology weaving it's way into her brain.

"This morning, I introduced my as the Doctor and as Penny's God-father. I practically told them she was important to me. Now they're doing something horrific to her and..."

"Doctor, we need to think of a way to reverse this." Sarah Jane said.

She was angry that the Doctor had put her daughter in danger, but, at the same time, terrified she would lose the four year old. Penny was pretty much all she had left.

"If I do anything, Sarah Jane, they could kill her. They have no emotions, they just want to..."

The Doctor turned to Penny. He frowned as if he was coming to a horrible conclusion.

"Penny knows about me. She knows about the TARDIS and about time travel and all those things and... And the Cybermen want to know all those things. What better way to upgrade your files than to take a person's memories? Only they won't stop there. After Penny's memories are gone, she be no use to them, upgraded or deleted, it doesn't matter, because they'll know everything about me and..."

The Doctor felt the full force of a smack in the face.

"How dare you say that!" Sarah Jane snapped. "How dare you say that what happens to my daughter doesn't matter!"

"As much as I love Penny, Sarah Jane, there are millions and millions of lives at stake at the moment. Now your daughter is amazing but if the Cybermen get hold of my weaknesses, which I'm pretty sure you will have told her about, then the whole planet is at risk. So pardon me when I say what happens to your daughter does matter if her memories are given to the Cybermen!"

Sarah Jane slapped the Doctor again. The Doctor slowed down and looked at her.

"Save my daughter, Doctor." Sarah Jane tried.

The Doctor looked at Penny. He felt his old eyes and tired heart cry out for the girl but he knew that she was in danger because of him.

"We're going to go back to the school find out who is behind this and deal with it."

They moved towards the doors.

"Is there someone who can babysit Penny?" the Doctor asked when he looked back.

.

Miss Brook began to leaf through the school files. She smiled as she found the file she was looking for: 'Smith P'. She turned to her two metal companions.

"The address is in here. Go and collect the child, delete anyone who attempts to stop you. Her memories are the key to the Doctor's downfall so bring her back alive."

The two Cybermen stomped away.

.

The Doctor soniced the school gates and smiled as they opened. Sarah Jane was still annoyed at him for the comments he had made.

"There has to be some sort of Cyber-base." the Doctor said. "It's a small school so a scanner should work."

He reached into his seemingly bottom-less pockets and produced a strangely shaped scanning device.

"This should track down the base. I don't know how many Cybermen there'll be so be on your guard."

Then he and Sarah Jane walked into the room.

.

Mrs Goodman simply adored Penny Smith. The girl was young, intelligent and creative. Since Mrs Goodman had not had children and her husband had passed away two years beforehand, she always jumped at the chance of looking after Penny. Mrs Goodman had got some paints out and Penny was painting a picture on the newspaper covered floor of the kitchen. Then there was a stomping noise from outside. Mrs Goodman looked out of the window and gasped. There were two men made of metal standing in the garden, marching closer and closer. As they reached the windows, they smashed through and grabbed at the woman.

.

"Miss Brooks!" the Doctor gasped as he saw the teacher.

"Hello, Doctor, isn't it?" she inquired slyly. "And Miss Smith. Where is Penny?"

"Actually, we're here to see you." Sarah Jane said, slipping into her normal journalist role. "Have you noticed anything odd around the school, any people going missing or behaving strangely all of a sudden?"  
>"No." Miss Brooks said with a shake of the head. "They're have been some new faces around here recently but that's only to be expected. It is the start of a new term."<p>

"Yes, you're right. But we're concerned about Penny." the Doctor said.

Miss Brooks smiled and said they should come into her class room.

.

Penny watched as the glass fell to the floor. Suddenly one of the metal men reached out towards Mrs Goodman.

"**DELETE**!" came a robotic cry.

Penny gasped. She didn't like it. She turned away as she heard Mrs Goodman scream. Then there were metallic thuds. Penny winced, looking away. She felt cold metal wrap around her waist and a metal hand was clamped over her mouth. She was lifted off the floor and the two metal men stomped from the room, leaving behind the dead body of Mrs Goodman.

.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane sat down at Miss Brooks' desk.

"Penny is a remarkable young girl. She has a lot of stories to tell. They are nothing more than stories but..."

"Some stories can be very realistic." Sarah Jane said in a threatening way.

"I was going to say that some stories turn out to be true." Miss Brooks said as the door was opened.

Two Cybermen walked in. The two metal men stood, one behind Sarah Jane and the other behind the Doctor, emotionless, staring at Miss Brooks.

"Penny, tried to warn me." the Doctor said, looking back at the Cybermen. "She noticed that you had an earpiece before I left. She told me. I dismissed it."

"What does it mean?" Sarah Jane asked.

"It means that Miss Brook is dead. She's a Cyberman's drone if you will. She found out about who I was and brought Penny to the Cybermen." the Doctor spat. "They spooned out the brains and kept the rest in tact."

"**We need to upgrade our files.**" the Cyberman behind Sarah Jane said.

"Penny is a child, not an upgrade!" Sarah Jane snapped back.

"**She is a companion to the Doctor.**" the Cyberman replied.

"My friends, I believe they want to see our base. Shall we show them?"

.

Sarah Jane and the Doctor were lead to a door that was labelled supplies. Miss Brooks opened it and looked down the stairs that seemingly descended into nothing.

"Our base is down there." she said and they began to go down.

When they reached the bottom, Sarah Jane and the Doctor gasped. The room was small and lined with brick. Built in the centre was some sort of large control panel and on the far wall there was some sort of large device that horribly resembled some sort of torture implement. A struggling four year old was strapped in the centre panel and two Cybermen were standing guard.

"Penny!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, running towards her daughter.

The two Cybermen moved in the way to block her. The Doctor turned to Miss Brooks.

"That is a Electro-bio Bogian transmitter. That's illegal on every planet that knows it exists will be on this planet in forty years."

"What does it do?" Sarah Jane asked, looking at Penny.

Her daughter was struggling and had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"It turns the victim's mind into electrical signatures. It was meant to be a way for geniuses to live for ever but it simply keeps their memories and throws away the rest, personality, emotions everything else. It also kills the victim."

"Perfect Cyberman tech." Miss Brooks remarked.

"I understand that but why the ear pieces? And why wait until after school to use it?" the Doctor asked.

"The process doesn't work as well if the person has not been prepared beforehand. We needed to access Penny's brain and the earpieces make it possible." Miss Brooks said. "It took a while for the earpieces to fully work."

"Mummy, it hurts." Penny moaned.

"It's okay, Penny, the Doctor's going to get you out of here."

The Doctor turned and looked at Penny and Sarah Jane. Miss Brooks moved over to a panel in the centre. The Doctor pulled out his sonic.

"Miss Brooks, I am so sorry but the Cybermen killed you. I don't know how long ago or why but your about to kill a child and she's the daughter of my friend. I can stop you and I will if you don't let Penny go."

"Your pen can do nothing to stop me." Miss Brooks said, her fingers hoovering over the buttons.

"It's not a pen." the Doctor said and turned his sonic on with a grave look.

The woman grabbed at her ears and screamed in pain. Penny screamed at the sound. Miss Brooks fell to the floor. The Doctor frowned as she hit the ground and didn't move. The Cybermen turned to him.

"**You have killed the human**." the Cyberman reported. "**It is not concern to us.**"

"**DELETE!**" another Cyberman said, turning to Sarah Jane.

"Run!" the Doctor ordered.

"I'm not leaving Penny!" Sarah Jane cried back, beginning to try and pull the straps from around Penny's wrists.

The Doctor soniced the straps and freed Penny. They began to run as the Cybermen turned to them.

"What are we meant to do to them?" Sarah Jane asked.

The Doctor spun his sonic and aimed it at the Cybermen as the three humans were cornered. He looked at Penny and picked her up.  
>"Get ready to run." he said.<p>

A whirl grew from the sonic and the Cybermen seemed unaffected. Suddenly sparks came from the central column. He smiled and took Sarah Jane's hand, running with her as the room began to tear apart.

.

The Doctor felt Penny begin to lose a grip on him as they ran out of the school. The Cyber-base seemed to have been wired to the electrics and they were blowing all over the school.

"I have a headache." Penny moaned, seemingly unaware of the lights blowing above them.

The fire alarms were going off and there were people panicking. Sarah Jane was running alongside the Doctor but even she didn't notice when Penny passed out in the Doctor's arms.

.

When they were outside, Sarah Jane half screamed when she realised her daughter had passed out. She raced over to Penny's side and took her from the Doctor. She laid the four year old down on the stone of the car park and took her pulse.

"Doctor, she's fading." Sarah Jane gasped.

The Doctor knelt down beside the little girl and ran his sonic over the the earpieces. He could understand what was happening but there was something horrible about the fact that it was Penny. He had bonded with the little girl as she grew. The four years he had known her was a blink for him but she was so special to him.

"She's connected to the system. The system I blew up."

Sarah Jane looked at the Doctor. Her daughter was dying because of him.

"Let me do something." the Doctor said, moving towards her.

He pulled out his sonic and aimed it at the earpieces.

"I need to remove them before the explosions pretty much rip her mind apart." the Doctor said.

"You have to do something!" Sarah Jane screamed at him, squeezing her daughter's hand.

"I'm working on it!" the Doctor yelled back at her.

Suddenly one of the earpieces fell away and the Doctor scurried around. The other one fell away after a blast from the sonic.

"Is she going to be alright?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I don't know." the Doctor breathed, looking down at the little girl. "I just don't know."

He slowly got to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Sarah Jane demanded.

"If I had not been here, Sarah Jane, then Penny would not have been taken by them. They were after my weaknesses and they tried to hurt her. I should have rescued her but... I messed up so much, Sarah, and you almost lost her. I can't stay here."

"Don't do this!" Sarah Jane shouted, cradling her daughter's head in her lap. "Please!"

"What happens if it was a Sontaran or a Dalek or something else? She is four years old! Me leaving is saving her life." the Doctor said.

He walked back and kissed Penny on the forehead.

"Be good for your mother, Penny." he said.

He turned to Sarah Jane and kissed her forehead.

"You are going to be the best mother for her. She'll love you and be a hero just like you. She's be amazing."

Luke studied the earpieces Penny had shown him.

"So because you almost died, the Doctor doesn't want to have anything to do with you?"

"No, the Doctor knows it's not safe."

"And the last time you saw him, you were four." Luke concluded.

"Wrong again, bro." Penny said, picking up a framed photo from Sarah Jane's desk.

She handed the photo to Luke. It showed her, Sarah Jane and the Doctor standing outside the TARDIS.

* * *

>"It was roughly a year ago..."<p><p>

Mr Finch walked down the stairs towards his office. He had a smile on his face, proud of his domain – Deffry Vale High. He stopped when he saw a teenaged girl sitting outside his office.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"The nurse sent me, sir. I was in English and I got a headache." the girl said.

"Then go home and stop bothering me." Mr Finch snapped.

"I can't." the girl whimpered.

"Why? Are your parents are work?"

"I live in Ambrose Hill, the orphanage."

Mr Finch smiled and nodded, happy about the revelation. He opened the door to his office and welcomed the girl in. The girl walks into the room.

"It's nearly time for lunch." he said, letting the door close behind him.

Then there was a squawking and a flapping of wings. The girl screamed.

.

Mr Finch nodded as he studied the woman and her daughter in front of him.

"It would only be temporary, just while I'm writing this article. She's home tutored and since I'm going to be busy..."

"Of course, Miss Smith. Your daughter is twelve, however, and not old enough to join the school. Perhaps I should arrange a separate tutor for her."

"I'm sure I can manage to keep up." the daughter assured the head master.

He smiled and put down the list of grades the woman had provided for her daughter.

"Then I don't see what is wrong with her staying on a temporary basis. I'll have the receptionist take her to her first class."

.

Muttering sounded over the class until a spiky haired skinny man walked in. He scanned the class fro the front with a childish smile.

"Good morning, class. Are we sitting comfortably?" he asked, looking around.

That was when there was a knock at the door. The Doctor turned and stared at the door, before calling the person on the other side. The receptionist opened the door and lead the girl from before in.

"This is Penelope Smith. She'll be joining this class for a few days." the receptionist said, mostly to the teacher.

He nodded and smiled.

"Okay, Penelope, if that's what you want me to call you, take a seat."

"Can you call me Penny?" the girl asked, moving to her seat.

"Okay. Penny it is."

The Doctor turned to the board and began to write the word 'Physics'. He turned back to the class with a grin.

"So, physics. Physics, eh? Physics. Physics. Physics! Physics. Physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics, physics. I hope one of you is getting all this down."

Penny held up her notebook for the Doctor to see was just covered in the word 'Physics'.

"Okay, lets see what you know." the Doctor said. "Two identical strips of nylon are charged with static electricity and hung from a string so they can swing freely. What would happen if they were brought near each other?"

A boy in the front row put up his hand. He was wearing glasses and seemed to be the only one giving the teacher their full attention. Even Penny was scanning the class.

"Yes, what's your name?"

"Milo, sir." the boy answered.

"Milo!" the Doctor cheered. "Off you go."

"They would repel each other because they have the same charge."

"Correctamundo! A word I have never used before and hopefully never will again. None of you will too, hopefully. Penny, write that down, complete ban on the word 'Correctamundo!' I used it again. This isn't going to end well."

The Doctor looked at the strange looks he was getting from most of his class and got back to the job in hand.

"Question two. I coil up a thin piece of microwire and place it in a glass of water. Then I turn on the electricity and measure to see if the water's temperature is affected. My question is this. How do I measure the electrical power going into the coil?"

Only Milo put his hand up. Penny once again scanned the room.

_Something is not right here._ she thought.

Penny was not home tutored, her mum had lied about that, she was used to the school system and there was normally more than one person who put their hand up.

"Milo, go for it."

"Measure the current and PDs in an ammeter and voltmeter." Milo answered simply.

"Okay, just for Milo..."

The Doctor fired question after question at the boy which, without a second's hesitation, Milo answered and got right. The Doctor didn't like the look of it one bit, especially after he asked the boy questions that no one on the planet should know yet.

.

A blonde dinner lady walked over to the table the Doctor was sitting at. She glared at him and he smiled back. The woman began to wipe the table while the Doctor talked to her. She was really his companion, Rose.

"Two days we've been here." Rose moaned.

"Blame your boyfriend. He's the one who put us onto this. And he was right. Boy in class this morning, got a knowledge way beyond planet Earth."

Rose sighed and looked at the Doctor's dinner. She was really hungry. She had been serving dinner to the school children all lunch time and it was rather hard to do.

"The chips are a bit different, too." the Doctor said.

"I think they're gorgeous." Rose remarked, looking at the chips.  
>"You can have some of mine, that girl over there, Um... Penny. She didn't like them so she gave me hers." the Doctor said, pointing at a brown haired girl from a table full of children.<p>

She had been the girl from his Physics class, the new girl. She seemed to be fitting in well, sitting at a table with other children her age, seeming at home there.

"It's all very well behaved." the Doctor said. "I thought there'd be happy slapping hoodies. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs. Happy slapping hoodies with ASBOs and ringtones. Huh? Huh? Oh, yeah. Don't tell me I don't fit in."

He smirked and Rose laughed. That was until the head dinner lady came over and saw Rose slacking.

"You are not permitted to leave your station during a sitting." the head dinner lady, a grumpy woman called Mrs Jackson, snapped.

"I was talking to this teacher. He doesn't like the chips."

"The menu has been specifically designed by the headmaster to improve concentration and performance. Now, get back to work." Mrs Jackson snapped at the Doctor.

He nodded and studied the chips as Rose was lead away but the dinner lady.

.

Penny was sitting on a table made up of two pupils she had befriended, Kenny and Melissa, and a couple of other children who were yet to tell her their names. Kenny was a slightly round boy who, like her, wasn't eating the chips. He had a packed lunch. Melissa was eating the chips but also, when she talked, waving them around as her hands moved rapidly.

"That new Physics teachers a bit odd."

"But there's been lots of new faces around here recently, hasn't there?" Penny inquired, as causally as she could.

"Yeah, now I think about it. Just kinda happened I suppose." Melissa said.

"But the reasons for them getting replaced..." Kenny said. "I heard that the old Physics teacher won the lottery."

Penny smiled.

"Well, we can't all be that lucky." she pointed out.

Then a teacher walked over. Penny recognised him from their Maths class. His name was Mr Wagner. He looked at Penny and then at the rest of the table before his gaze fell on Melissa.

"Melissa. You'll be joining my class for the next period. Milo's failed me, so it's time we moved you up to the top class. Kenny, not eating the chips?"

"I'm not allowed." Kenny said.

"And what about you?" Mr Wagner said, turning to Penny.

"I'm allergic to potatoes." Penny lied with a polite smile.

Mr Wagner nodded slowly and pointed to a few other children on the tables, calling out their names. One of the boys was called Luke and Penny smiled at the name. She didn't know why but she had always liked the name Luke. The pupils left and Penny turned to Kenny.  
>"Is it just me or is something going on here?" she asked.<p>

.

Rose was cleaning the sides in the kitchen when the other dinner ladies came in, pushing a large vat of oil on wheels. The dinner ladies were wearing protective clothing, masks and gloves. Rose ducked out of view so she could observe what was going on.

"Careful, keep it steady. Don't spill a drop. I said, keep it steady! Careful. That's it." Mrs Jackson snapped.

Rose phone ringed but she answered it before it was noticed. She recognised the number and smiled as she put the phone to her ear.

"What have you got?"

Rose asked as the dinner ladies left the room to get another barrel.

"Confirmation." Mickey said.

Rose was aware that her boyfriend was in a nearby library, providing her and the Doctor with anything they might want to look into. He would be working on the library computers, where he worked best.

"I just got into army records. Three months ago massive UFO activity." Mickey informed her over the phone. "Logged over forty sightings, lights in the sky and all that... I can't get any photos, because then it all gets classified and secret. Keeps locking me out."

"Tell you what though," Rose said, watching as the dinner ladies came in with another vat. "Three months ago, turns out all the kitchen staff were replaced. And this lot are weird."

"See I was right to call you."

Even over the phone, Rose could hear the triumph in her boyfriend's voice. Rose felt a bit sad however, she had thought that Mickey might have called her home just for the sake of calling her home. Suddenly the barrel of oil was tipped over. It splashed one of the dinner ladies and covered them in a thick coating. She began to scream.

"I've got to go." Rose said, closing her phone.

"Get her up! Get her up! Get her up!" Jackson barked at the others.

Cautiously the fallen woman was helped to her feet and forced into the kitchen office. The blinds were pulled down. Rose watched with a frown and pulled out her phone, calling an ambulance. When asked what she was doing by one of the reappearing dinner ladies, she answered truthfully.

"No need. She's quite alright." the dinner lady replied.

There was the sound of something bursting into flames and then a scream filled the air. Rose winced but tried to move forwards to get a look.

"It's fine." the dinner lady snapped. "She does that."

The woman disappeared back into the office as smoke escape the room and Rose moved closer. Then her gaze fell onto the oil. It seemed to be corroding the metal container where it had been spilt.

"Someone screamed." a girl's voice informed Rose.

Rose looked around to see a girl standing at the hatch and looking around the kitchen. She was the girl who had given the Doctor her chips.

"Hello, Penny, isn't it?"

"Yeah. What's happening?"

"Nothing. Some one just slipped." Rose said.

Penny looked suspicious but slowly walked away.

.

There were rows upon rows of children in Mr Wagner's class. He smiled at them all and instructed them to put on their headphones. As they did, they became locked on the computer screens in front of them and their only focus were the green and black symbols and codes in front of them.

.

Sarah Jane Smith was wondering the corridors with Mr Finch. He was showing her everything he wanted her to see but the way he talked, the way he acted, was telling Sarah Jane what she wanted to know. With her and Penny working together on this case, they would have it cracked in no time. Then she saw Penny, standing down the corridor.

"Mr Finch, as wonderful as this tour is, could we put it on hold for a few minutes? It seems my daughter wants to talk to me." Sarah Jane said.

Mr Finch looked down the corridor. As much as the idea of having an article writing about him was exciting and appealing to his vanity, he didn't like the Smith pair. They seemed like trouble.

"Go ahead." he said with a smile.

.

The Doctor watched as Penny talked to a woman he recognised. The woman was old but something about her was very familiar. The two talked for a few minutes until the woman seemingly gave the girl a few orders and then sent her off. The Doctor stuck his head out of the door and smiled.

"Penny, a moment of your time." he called.

Penny walked over to him and smiled.

"Hey."

"Who's that?" he asked.

"My mother – Miss Sarah Jane Smith. She's a journalist who's writing a profile about Mr Finch for the Sunday Times."

"Sarah Jane Smith." the Doctor proudly rolled the name about in his mouth.

Sarah Jane had been one of his companions and now, now she had a life and a daughter and was investigating.

"You never told me your name." Penny told the teacher.

"Mr Smith, Mr John Smith." the Doctor said, not caring that teacher only ever gave out their last names.

"John Smith." Penny smiled. "My mum had a friend who sometimes went by that name. She told me all sorts of stories about him."

In a second the Doctor realised that Penny meant him. His smile widened.

"Well, it's a very common name." the Doctor pointed out.

"From what I've heard, he was a very uncommon man." Penny said, almost dreamily.

"So you're here because you're helping your mum."

"Yeah. Giving the pupils' view of the school. It's weird though, I mean, this new curriculum? So many children getting ill. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

"Are you sure you're just helping your mum with her profile?" the Doctor asked.

"No harm in a little investigation. Kinda our family motto. Might be more to this school than meets the eye." Penny pointed out. "Well, nice talking to you."

She moved away from the Doctor and left him smiling after her, overwhelmed that Sarah Jane had got a life for herself.

.

The bell for the end of the day rung. Kenny watched as Penny crept away from classes and he decided to follow her. He went into a classroom it seemed that she had gone into and stopped dead. There was a noise, some sort of bat-like squawking coming from under one of the desks. It sounded like something was eating. Slowly Kenny moved forwards and looked under the desk in question. He could see something big, all teeth and leathery skin. Kenny gasped and leapt back as the thing snapped at him. Then Mr Wagner stood up from behind the desk. Kenny turned and rushed out. He almost ran straight into Penny.

"There was a giant bat in the classroom!" Kenny panted.

"Okay, lets get out of here and you can tell me all about it." Penny said, easily instructing the boy who was about a year older than her.

.

It was now dark. Penny had told Sarah Jane about what Kenny had told her and they had decided that a full investigation was necessary. That included breaking into the school. Penny found an open window and climbed up to it, opening it further and climbing inside. She checked the area with her torch and smiled when she found it empty. Then she turned and helped her mum up.

.

Rose watched as the Doctor soniced the door. They had picked up Mickey from the library and now they were ready to check out the school without anyone being there. They walked into the school's reception and the Doctor took control after Rose commented about how weird it felt.

"When I was a kid, I used to think that all the teachers slept in the school." Rose said.

"All right, team. Oh, I hate people who say team. Er, gang. Er, comrades. Anyway, Rose, go to the kitchen. Get a sample of that oil. Mickey, the new staff are all Maths teachers. Go and check out the Maths department. I'm going to look in Finch's office. Be back here in ten minutes." the Doctor instructed.

They split up. The Doctor going his way. Rose and Mickey stayed behind for a few seconds.  
>"You going to be alright?" Rose asked.<p>

Mickey nodded and smiled, trying to show her he could handle anything. He began to leave and then came back sheepishly. Knowing what he was after, Rose gave him directions to the Maths department.

.

Sarah Jane and Penny were in one of the classrooms when they heard flapping outside. Penny peaked out of the door just in time to see a dark shadow cross the hallway.

"Lets get after it." Penny whispered and they ran.

.

Rose got the oil sample. Everything was eerily silent. Except from the squawks and shrieks that echoed the corridors. Rose just hoped that they were birds.

.

They had been running after the dark shadow when Sarah Jane had sensed something following them. She had heard footfalls that didn't belong to herself or her daughter. For the twelve year old's protection, Sarah Jane pushed Penny into the storeroom ahead of her and heard her daughter gasp. She turned and saw a large blue box. It's windows cast light around the room and Penny walked up to it.

"Is this the TARDIS?" she murmured.

Part of Sarah Jane didn't want to believe it was there, another part of her was too shocked to do anything rational. She took her daughter's hand and the two of them backed out into the gym. Then they sensed someone behind them. They turned and Sarah Jane gasped.

"Doctor?" she murmured.

"Hello, Sarah Jane, Penny." the Doctor replied with a weak smile.

He had his hands in his pockets, looking at casual as he could.

"It's you. Oh, Doctor, it's been eight years."

"What? Only eight?" the Doctor gasped in surprise. "Last time I saw you I left you in Croydon."

"Is that the Doctor?" Penny murmured. "The man who..."

"Yeah." Sarah Jane said. "You don't remember him, do you? Last time you saw him you were four."

"But this is the first time I've met Penny."

"Then clearly a future you spends time with a toddler version of me." Penny explained.

Then her awe took over once again.

"You look incredible." Penny pointed out.

"So do you and your mum."

"What are you doing here?" Sarah Jane asked, half happy, half defensively.

"Well, UFO sighting, school gets record results. I couldn't resist. What about you?" the Doctor replied.

"The same."

Sarah Jane walked over to him, leaving Penny to stand – a bit star-struck – by herself. Sarah Jane looked him straight in the eye.

"I can't believe it's you." she said, slowly and quietly. "The last time I saw you, you said you were going to keep away, for Penny's safety."

Suddenly a scream filled the air. The three all glanced at each other. The Doctor took Sarah Jane's hand and squeezed it.

"Now I can!" Sarah Jane called as the three ran off to find the source of the scream.

.

Rose ran up to find the Doctor with an old woman and the girl from before. They all glanced at each other before Rose asked who they were.

"Rose, Sarah Jane and Penny. Penny and Sarah Jane, Rose." the Doctor said, already running.

Penny followed him, leaving Sarah Jane and Rose to territorially give each other glares.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I can see he's getting older, his assistants are getting younger."

"I'm not his assistant." Rose snapped.

"Oh, get you, tiger." Sarah Jane remarked, mostly to the absent Doctor.

Then Rose took off after the Doctor and Sarah Jane followed her.

.

Mickey was in a classroom staring down at a pile of rats, vacuum packed rats. When the Doctor and Penny came in, they stared down at them. Penny picked one up with a frown.

"Sorry! Sorry, it was only me. You told me to investigate, so I started looking through some of these cupboards and all of these fell on me." Mickey said, still in a slightly higher voice than usual.

"Rats." Penny said, studying one. "Dozens of vacuum packed rats."

"And you decided to scream!" the Doctor said.

"It took me by surprise." Mickey protested as he saw Penny even considering how unmanly he was.

"Like a little girl? Nine, maybe ten years old. I'm seeing pigtails, frilly skirt."

"It was dark! I was covered in rats!"

"Penny's more manly than you!" the Doctor laughed.

Rose and Sarah Jane ran in at roughly that time. They looked at the scene and realised that the Doctor was insulting Mickey.

"Hello, can we focus? Does anyone notice anything strange about this? Rats in school?" Rose said.

Penny raised an eye brow as Sarah Jane and Rose began to fight. She turned to the Doctor and looked down at the rats.

"All of this started when Mr Finch arrived, right? Which means that we should go and check his office out."

"Yeah. Should we separate them?" the Doctor whispered, nodding between Sarah Jane and Rose.

"Probably." Penny said.

"Mickey, separate them." the Doctor said as he and Penny began to walk down the corridor.

"I don't want to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?" Rose asked Sarah Jane, ignoring Mickey's pitiful attempts to separate them.

"Sarah Jane Smith. I used to travel with the Doctor."

"Oh. Well he's never mentioned you." Rose snapped smugly.

"What? Not even once? He didn't mention me even once?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"No, not at all. I think I would remember a name like that."

Then Rose left. Sarah Jane looked at Mickey annoyed and then stormed out after them. Mickey shrugged and then followed them.

.

Penny watched as the Doctor soniced the door. She was trying to hold in her excitement at it.

"Maybe those rats were food." the Doctor said as the others caught up with him and Penny.

"Food for what?" Penny asked as the Doctor edged the door open.

They scanned the room and frowned.

"Rose, you know you thought all the teachers slip inside school?"

"Well, they do." Penny breathed, scanning the room.  
>She stared at a lot of large giant bat like creatures. They were hanging from the ceiling, pale shapes with their wings wrapped tightly around them.<p>

"No way." Mickey breathed.

The Doctor pressed a finger against his lips and signals for the others to back away. He closed the door and the others smiled. As the Doctor closed the door, one of the bat creatures woke up and began to squawk. Penny had been listening at the doorway.

"We need to get out of here, like, now." Penny said.

.

They were standing in the car park of the school. Mickey was panicking. Sarah Jane was checking on her daughter.

"Those were teachers!" Rose exclaimed.

"Yeah. Can you comprehend that?" Penny asked.

"When Finch arrived, he brought with him seven new teachers, four dinner ladies and a nurse. Thirteen. Thirteen big bat people. Come on."

He turned back towards the school. Penny, Sarah Jane and Rose began to go but Mickey pulled back, thinking they were all insane.

"We need to get to the TARDIS. I need it to analyse the oil sample oil collected."

"Can we get him? Can we, mum?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane smiled and nodded at Penny. She turned to the Doctor.

"I've got something to show you." Sarah Jane said and rushed over to her car.

Penny ran over to it and waited until her mum opened to the boot. Penny practically climbed into the boot so she could hug the robot dog. She kissed it's metal forehead.

"K-9!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Rose Tyler, Mickey Smith, allow me to introduce K9. well, K9 Mark Three to be precise."

Rose and Mickey stared at the metal dog in the boot.

"Why does he look so disco?" Rose asked.

"Oi! Listen, in the year five thousand, this was cutting edge. What's happened to him?"

"He was Penny's best friend until she was nine and then he just died – nothing."

"Your best friend was a metal dog?" Mickey exclaimed.

"He was the only one I could talk to when I was growing up." Penny shrugged. "Can you fix him?"

.

They ended up in a café. Mickey and Rose were buying chips. Penny was talking to them happily. The Doctor and Sarah Jane were working on K-9.

"Penny, can you come here?" Sarah Jane called over.

"Yeah." Penny said, walking over to her mother and the Doctor.

"All this time you been giving it, he's different, when the truth is, he's just like any other bloke." Mickey smirked.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Maybe not. But Penny seems to be a good replacement companion if you ever... Lets just say you might want to go easy on the chips."

.

Mr Finch was watching the scene inside the restaurant with a mixture of devious joy. He had been waiting a long time for some sort of intelligence that he had not manufactured. This could be fun.

"Come to me." he beckoned as a giant bat swooped overhead.

.

Penny and Sarah Jane were watching as the Doctor worked on K-9. Penny's small hands were being used to find wires inside the casing while the Doctor soniced them.

"I thought of you on Christmas Day. This Christmas just gone? Great big spaceship overhead. I thought, oh yeah, bet he's up there." Sarah Jane said.

"We stopping opening presents just to go and stare at it. Went up to deal with a few people on roofs, that sort of thing." Penny added.

"I was right on top of it." the Doctor said. "With Rose."

Penny turned away for a few minutes and Sarah Jane leaned closer.

"Did I do something wrong? Because you never came back for me. You just dumped me."

"I told you. I was called back home and in those days humans weren't allowed." the Doctor replied.

"I waited for you." Sarah Jane muttered sadly. "I missed you."

"Oh, you didn't need me. You were getting on with your life." the Doctor pointed out, nodding at Penny.

The girl turned back to face him with a small glare.

"You were her life." she said.

"You know what the most difficult thing was? Coping with what happens next, or with what doesn't happen next. You took me to the furthest reaches of the galaxy, you showed me supernovas, intergalactic battles, and then you just dropped me back on Earth. How could anything compare to that?"

"But you, you and Penny, you're doing what we always did." the Doctor managed, amazed. "You found that school and you're looking around for the wonder."

"It's not the same. There were times when I would have traded everything, my home, my security, everything, just so I not be stuck on Earth."

"Even Penny?" the Doctor inquired gravely.

Sarah Jane looked at Penny and frowned. Penny was her daughter, pretty much her whole world. Penny was intelligent and saw the world's beauty.

"No. Penny is worth more to me than life itself." Sarah Jane said.

"Thanks." Penny smiled. "And by the way, you didn't drop her off in Croydon."

"What? Where did I drop her off then?"

"Aberdeen." Penny answered.

"Well, that's next to Croydon." the Doctor muttered.

Penny shook her head with a laugh. Her laugh made the Doctor smile. Suddenly K-9 whirled into life. Penny hugged the robot dog.

"Hello, Mistress, Mistress, Master."

"He recognises me!" the Doctor squealed happily.

"Of course he does, for us it's only been eight years." Penny smiled.

"Affirmative." K-9 announced.

"Rose, give us that oil." the Doctor instructed.

Penny looked around at Mickey and Rose as they got up. She was more worried about the café worker who was staring at them all.

"It's a toy." Penny said quietly.

"Don't touch the oil though. A dinner lady got all scorched."

"I'm no dinner lady." the Doctor said, covering his fingers in oil.

He wiped some of the oil onto a suction cup analyser on K-9's head. K-9 stammered over his instructions.

"Come on, boy. You can do it." Penny said, stroking the metal as if he was an actual dog.

"That dog's got a voice!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Careful. That's my dog." Sarah Jane snapped.

"Confirmation of analysis. Substance is Krillitane Oil." K-9 said.

Penny began to encourage him, telling him how good he had done, how he was the best dog in the world.

"They're Krillitanes." the Doctor murmured.

"Is that bad?" Rose asked.

"Very. Think of how bad things could possibly be, and add another suitcase full of bad." the Doctor muttered back.

"Is bad measured in suitcases?" Penny asked lightly.

"What exactly are Krillitanes?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"They're a composite race. Just like your culture is a mixture of traditions from all sorts of countries, people you've invaded or have been invaded by. You've got bits of Viking, bits of France, bits of whatever. The Krillitanes are the same. An amalgam of the races they've conquered. But they take physical aspects as well. They cherry pick the best bits from the people they destroy. That's why I didn't recognise them. The last time I saw Krillitanes, they looked just like us except they had really long necks."

"What're they doing?" Rose asked.

"The children. They're doing something to the children."

The Doctor produced his sonic and scanned Penny. The girl looked at him confused and he frowned when he scans came back negative.

"At least we know Penny's safe. She must have not been there long enough."

.

Mr Finch watched as Sarah Jane and Mickey walked out with K-9, putting him back in the car. He kept his eyes trained on the café, on the three inside. As they walked outside, he turned to the Krillitane at his side.

"On my command." he said.

.

Penny watched the Doctor and Rose have an argument. Despite the wonder and the joy and the excitement, Penny knew she would seriously considering turning the Doctor down if she was asked. He didn't age like a human. He couldn't live like them. Whilst humans would grow old and die, the Doctor would not. Penny couldn't bare to think of having to watch anyone she knew die from something she was helpless to stop. The Doctor had to do it with everyone he cared about, everyone he had ever known. No one had his life span. The way the Doctor summed it up was perfect: ' the curse of the Time Lords'.

Suddenly she noticed something in the air. It looked like a bat and was swooping towards the Doctor and Rose who weren't watching the skies. Penny cried out and raced forwards. She rugby tackled the Doctor and Rose, getting them down on the ground as the Krillitane flew over them. Any attempt to grab at them was stopped when they hit the ground out of the creature's reach.

"Was that a Krillitane?" Sarah Jane asked, rushing over and helping her daughter up.

The Doctor nodded.

.

After one of the strangest stays in a hotel in the world, involving smuggling a robot dog upstairs so more world could be done on him, they went back to school. They walked through the car park towards the reception. Students separated for the five of them. This time there were no distractions or cover stories, just action.

"Rose and Sarah, you go to the Maths room. Crack open those computers, I need to see the hardware inside. Here, you might need this." the Doctor said, producing his sonic.

Rose reached out to receive it but the Doctor gave it to Sarah Jane. Penny smirked at her mother.

"Mickey, surveillance, I want you outside." the Doctor said as he opened the door.

"Just stand outside?" Mickey moaned.  
>Sarah Jane gave him the keys to her car and told him he could go and sit inside with K-9. Then her and Rose disappeared into the building.<p>

"Don't forget to leave the window open a crack." Penny joked.

"But he's metal!" Mickey called back, walking over to the car.

"I didn't mean for him." Penny pointed out with a cheeky smile.

Mickey walked away grumbling. The Doctor turned to Penny.

"I like you." he said.

"So what are we meant to do?" Penny asked, heading inside.

"We're going to have a word with Mr Finch." the Doctor said.

.

Penny and the Doctor stood at one end of the school's swimming pool. Mr Finch was at the other. The Doctor knew he had to keep distance between them and the Krillitane. Krillitanes were known to eat prisoners and he didn't want to have to explain to anyone, let alone Sarah Jane, that their daughter had been eaten by an alien.

"Who are you?" Penny asked.

"My name is Brother Lassa. I believe the question is, what is the name of your time travelling friend?"

"The Doctor." Penny snapped back.

She turned to look up at the Doctor so she could work out what she was meant to do.

"Since when did Krillitanes have wings?" the Doctor asked, not giving anything away.

"It's been our form for nearly ten generations now. Our ancestors invaded Bessan. The people there had some rather lovely wings. They made a million widows in one day. Just imagine."

Penny didn't. The Doctor didn't – well, he didn't imagine. He just remembered back to all the wars he had seen, the billions of people he had watch die.

"And now you're shaped human."

"A personal favourite." Mr Finch said, walking around the pool.

The Doctor and Penny walked round too, keeping distance between them and the alien.

"My brothers remain bat form. What you see is a simple morphic illusion. Scratch the surface and the true Krillitane lies beneath. And what of the Time Lords? I always thought of you as such a pompous race. Ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and chaos. And of course, they're all but extinct. Only you. The last. Is it painful to be the last? Is it? Maybe when all is said and done, I'll leave your young friend as the last human, so you can watch her in pain."

Penny took a step back. It was involuntary. She had wanted to stand strong. The Doctor moved between her the alien, protectively, like a father.

"This plan of yours, what is it?" the Doctor growled.

"Work it out." Finch challenged.

"If we don't like it, we will stop you."

Mr Finch looked at the girl who had just snapped at him.

"We? The Doctor's race was peaceful to the point of indolence. And you? You seem to be something new. Do you fear us, child?"

"It does matter so long as I can fight you." Penny pointed out. "If it saves people, we'll do it."

"I'm so old now. I used to have so much mercy. You get one warning. That was it." the Doctor added.

"But we're not even enemies. Soon you will embrace us. The next time we meet, you will join with me. I promise you."

.

Mickey was getting bored, sitting in Sarah Jane's car. The children had long since disappeared into their classes and the only person he had to talk to was K-9 who hadn't talked since Penny had said goodbye to him that morning.  
>"Surveillance. If you ask me, it's just another way of saying go sit at the back of the class with the safety scissors and glitter." Mickey grumbled, looking at his unresponsive audience. "That'd be me talking to a metal dog, then."<p>

.

Sarah Jane hit the sonic in annoyance. It wasn't working and they needed to get the computers open.

"Rose, can I give you a bit of advice?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I've got the feeling you're about to." Rose grumbled, getting annoyed that everything was taking so long.

"I know how intense a relationship with the Doctor can be, and I don't want you to feel I'm intruding. Because I'm not interested in picking up where we left off."

"No? With the big sad eyes, and the alien busting daughter and the robot dog? What else were you doing last night?" Rose snapped.

"I was just saying how hard it was adjusting to life back on Earth."

"The thing is, when you two met they'd only just got rid of rationing. No wonder all that space stuff was a bit too much for you."

To Sarah Jane, it sounded like an insult Penny would come up with. It was childish but also an attempt at showing everyone that she was intelligent and actually worth something. It only got Sarah Jane angrier. With everything Rose saw, surely she was not constantly trying to prove herself to the Doctor.

"I have no problem with space stuff. I've seen things you wouldn't believe."

"Try me." Rose challenged.

So Sarah Jane did. She listed of aliens and creatures and myths. Rose did the same. Ghosts, mummies, werewolves, dinosaurs, Slitheen and Daleks were all mentioned. The row was brought to an end when Sarah Jane mentioned the Lock Ness Monster. Rose was surprised that actually existed. Her surprise caused her to laugh at how ridiculous they were being.

"We're arguing over the Doctor!" she exclaimed. "With you, did he do that thing where he'd explain something at like, ninety miles per hour, and you'd go, 'what?' and he'd look at you like you'd just dribbled on your shirt?"

"All the time." Sarah Jane laughed. "Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?"

"Yeah!" Rose shrieked, beginning to laugh as well. "Yeah, he does. I'm, like, do you two want to be alone?"

"How's it going?" the Doctor asked, rushing in with Penny.

The two were met with laughing.

"What? Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these."

They continued to laugh at him.

"Penny, go outside and scout out the playground." the Doctor instructed.

Penny nodded and disappeared outside.

"What? Stop it!" the Doctor tried when the girl was gone.

.

Finch walked into his office. The teachers were all waiting for him. He smiled at them.  
>"Brothers, we must initiate the final phase. Get the children inside and seal the school. Our time has come, my brothers. Today we shall become Gods."<p>

Then he and the teachers left.

.

Penny walked outside and just managed to reach Kenny when a klaxon sounded. She looked at her watch. The break shouldn't have finished by then.

"All pupils to class immediately. And would members of staff congregate in the staff room." a voice crackled.

Penny frowned especially when Melissa commented how excited she was.

"Kenny, I think we should hang back." Penny said as they slowly made their way inside.

.

Rose began to send children away. She guessed Penny would be showing up soon.

"No, no. This classroom's out of bounds. You've all got to go to the South Hall. Off you go. South Hall!" Rose said.

The children sighed and wondered off.

.

Finch waked into the staff room. The teachers were trying to work out what was going on. Finch smiled.

"There's been a slight change in the timetable. We're having an early lunch." Finch said, closing the door.

There were screams and flapping from the other side.

.

The Doctor was sorting through the wires, wrapping them over his shoulders and around his wrists. Sarah Jane was watching him work. He was trying to get into the computer.

"I can't shift it." the Doctor moaned.

"I thought the sonic screwdriver could open anything!" Sarah Jane protested.

"Except a deadlock seal. There's got to be something inside here. What're they teaching those kids?"

.

Kenny moved to go into his classroom. Penny caught his arm.

"Come on, Kenny, live a little." Penny moaned. "If we go in there, I'm pretty sure at least one of us won't get out alive."

"Penny..."

"The bat things, Kenny. They'll kill us. We need to get out of here."

.

Mr Finch gave the door for the school to be closed. Alien writing appeared over the computer screens the children were working at. The doors slammed shut, the windows closed. The pupils started typing again.

.

The Doctor watched as all the computers lit up with strange alien codes.

"You wanted the program, there it is." Sarah Jane said.

"Some sort of code." the Doctor said, sitting down at one of the computers.

.

Penny and Kenny ran through the corridors. They kept seeing children working at computers, completely emotionless. Both were getting really worried. They were up against a school full of children under the control of aliens and the aliens that were controlling them. The odds weren't in their favour. Then they reached the doors to the school. Penny looked outside and saw Mickey sitting in the car with her robot dog.

"We need to get out of here." Penny said and began to hammer on the glass door.

Mickey heard the noise and turned to see them.

"They've taken them all!" Kenny shouted.

Mickey ran over to the window. Kenny continued to babble and shout in a panicked way. Penny took control.

"The Krillitanes have done something. Everyone is trapped on a computer. You need to get us out of here!"

Mickey nodded and rushed over to Sarah Jane's car. He climbed in and looked at K-9.

"Come on, I need some help." he pleaded, hitting random buttons on the dog's back.

K-9 remained unresponsive.

"Penny is in danger. Some dog you are, can't even protect your owner." Mickey muttered.

That made K-9 power up.

"System restarting. All primary drives functioning."

"You're working! Okay, no time to explain. We need to get inside the school. Do you have, like, I don't know, a lock picking device?"

"We are in a car." K-9 pointed out.  
>"Maybe a drill attachment?" Mickey tried.<p>

"We are in a car."

"Fat lot of good you are." Mickey moaned, looking at Penny and Kenny as they stood in the lobby, glancing behind them in case they were attacked.

"We are in a car."

"Wait a second. We are in a car!"

Mickey smiled at his idea and signalled for the two kids to stand back.

.

The Doctor didn't like what he was seeing on the screen, not one bit. He looked at Rose and Sarah Jane and then looked back at the screen, not happy with what he was seeing.

"The Skasis Paradigm. They're trying to crack the Skasis Paradigm!"

"The Skasis what?" Sarah Jane asked.

"The God maker. The universal theory. Crack that equation and you've got control of the building blocks of the universe. Time and space and matter, yours to control."

"What? And the kids are a big computer?" Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded gravely.

"Yes. And their learning power is being accelerated by the oil. That oil from the kitchens, it works as a, as a conducting agent. Makes the kids cleverer."

"But that oil's on the chips. I've been eating them."

"And Penny hasn't which is why I didn't pick it up." the Doctor told Rose. "What's fifty nine times thirty five?"

"Two thousand and sixty five." Rose answered instantaneously.

"See." the Doctor said.

He wasn't being smug. He was merely stating a fact.

"But why children? Why can't they use adults?" Sarah Jane asked, looking at the Doctor.

He had to remind himself that she was a mother now, that she feared whatever happened to one child might happen to hers. The Doctor just prayed that he wouldn't find Penny hooked up to one of the machines.

"No, it's got to be children. The God Maker needs imagination to crack it. They're not just using the children's brains to break the code, they're using their souls." the Doctor said.

Mr Finch entered the room. Protectively, the Doctor stepped between Finch and his two companions.

"Let the lesson begin." Finch said, walking deeper into the room. "Think of it, Doctor. With the Paradigm solved, reality becomes clay in our hands. We can shape the universe and improve it."

"I like the things the way they are." the Doctor said.

"You act like such a radical, and yet all you want to do is preserve the old order? Think of the changes that could be made if this power was used for good."

"What by someone like you?" the Doctor challenged.

"No, someone like you. The Paradigm gives us power, but you could give us wisdom. Become a God at my side. Imagine what you could do. Think of the civilisations you could save. Perganon, Assinta. Your own people, Doctor, standing tall. The Time Lords reborn." Finch said.

It was tempting. Both Rose and Sarah Jane could see that the Doctor was tempted. Finch could see it too.

"Don't listen to him." Sarah Jane snapped.

"He could stop your daughter from ever getting sick, from ever having to be alone or sad. And you could be with him throughout eternity. Young, fresh, never wither, never age, never die." Finch turned to the Doctor. "Their lives are so fleeting. So many goodbyes. How lonely you must be, Doctor. Join us."

"I could save everyone." the Doctor said.  
>"Yes."<p>

"I could stop the war."

"Yes."

"I could..."

"No. The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it's a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends." Sarah Jane said.

The Doctor looked at Sarah Jane. She could see the sadness in his eyes, all the loss he had felt. She had been orphaned as a baby, abandoned by him, watched the man she loved die and she still knew she would never truly know what it was like to be him.

The Doctor grabbed one of the chairs and smashed it at the screen.

"Out!" the Doctor ordered, pushing Rose and Sarah Jane past the Krillitane leader.

.

Mickey drove Sarah Jane's car into the glass doors of the reception. Penny pulled Kenny back as glass rained down.

"Great, now mum will have to buy a new car." Penny moaned, looking at the car.

Kenny was desperate to get going. Penny turned to Mickey.

"We need to get K-9 out." Penny said.

She turned to the metal dog as they lifted him out of the car.

"K-9, get to the dinner hall. We'll meet you there with the Doctor and mum." Penny said.

.

Finch summoned his brothers, making them aware of the situation. The teachers and dinner ladies all nodded and shifted into their Krillitane form. The chase had begun.

.

Sarah Jane almost ran straight into Penny. She pulled her daughter into a hug and smiled. Kenny and Mickey watched as the Doctor and Rose joined them. They could hear squawking getting closer and closer.

"What is going on?" Mickey asked as they all began to run.

.

"Are they my teachers?" Kenny asked as they ran.

Every so often they would see glimpses of the bat creatures chasing them but they were far enough ahead to avoid swipes.

"Yeah, sorry." Penny said.

They ran into the canteen and the group automatically ducked under the tables. The Krillitanes entered and swooped around, trying to catch the humans.

"We need the Doctor alive. As for the others? You can feast." Finch sneered.

Penny looked across the canteen and smiled. She looked at her mother and then crawled out from the table she was under.

"There's one!" Finch cried.

He watched as Penny got to her feet and raced across the canteen, coming to a stop at K-9.

"K-9 defence mode." Penny murmured at the robot dog as a Krillitane swooped towards her.

A red beam of light shot out from the dog and hit the creature. It was knocked from the sky and fell to the floor, dead.

"You are such a good dog!" Penny cheered as more Krillitane began to circle.

"I suggest you engage running mode, mistress." K-9 said.

"Yeah, maybe a good idea." Penny said.

The Doctor ran out of hiding and helped Penny to her feet. Then the group began to run. K-9 fired shots to give them cover. The Doctor sealed the doors.

"Power supply failing." K-9 reported as the humans and Time Lord disappeared down one of the corridors.

"Forget the shooty dog thing." Finch ordered. "After them!"

.

Penny smiled as she looked around the class room the Doctor had locked them in for safety. It was the room the Doctor and her had met in, his Physics room. The Doctor was pacing the room at the front, trying to think. Penny turned to Kenny. He was out of breath and looking scared.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, just...Is this normal for you?"

"Yeah." Penny replied happily. "My best friend is a robot dog, my Physics teacher a time travelling alien and my favourite pass time is to be chased by giant alien bats."

"The whole experience has put me off chips." Kenny sighed.

"Yeah, me too."

"I thought you were allergic to potato."

"No, I just don't trust teachers bearing chips."

"It's got to be something to do with the chips!" the Doctor announced. "No, wait, the oil. Krillitane life forms can't handle the oil. That's it! They've changed their physiology so often, even their own oil is toxic to them. How much was there in the kitchens?"

"Barrels of it." Rose answered.

Penny nodded. There was suddenly a bang as the Krillitanes began to hammer on the door.

"How long will it hold?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"Okay, we need to get to the kitchens." the Doctor said. "Mickey..."

"What now? hold the coats?" Mickey grumbled.

"Get all the children unplugged and out of the school."

Mickey didn't mind his job. He knew it would make him feel useful. Up until that point, Penny had been more useful than him.

"Now then, bats, bats, bats. How do we fight bats?"

Penny tipped her head back in thought. Then her gaze focused on the ceiling. She could see the fire alarm in the corner of the room.

"Kenny, the fire alarm." she whispered and nodded towards the button.

Kenny walked over and hit it. The Doctor beamed.

"Oh, you geniuses!" he cheered.

While the Krillitanes grasped their ears in the hope that they would block out the noise, the humans barged past them, making a run for it. When the humans were long gone, Finch drove his hand into the wall and pulled out a handful of wires. The alarm stopped instantly.  
>"After them!" Finch ordered.<p>

.

As the others ran straight to the kitchen, Penny stopped at the canteen. She stopped in front of K-9 and checked him over. When she found no damage, she smiled.

"You're such a good boy." Penny said. "Come on."

She got up and began to lead K-9 towards the kitchen.

.

When they entered the kitchen, Rose turned to look at them.

"Is he really your best friend?"

"Kids my age judge you for what you wear, imagine what they would do if they knew I fought aliens in my spare time. K-9 is really the only one I can talk to about it who isn't my own mother." Penny answered kneeling down beside the dog.

"And he's the best friend I could ever ask for."

The Doctor was trying his sonic on the vats. They weren't opening.

"They've been deadlock sealed. Finch must've done that. I can't open them." the Doctor said, running his hands through his spiky hair.

"The vats would not withstand a direct hit from my laser, but my batteries are failing." K-9 reported.

Penny looked at him and then at the Doctor, trying to work out what was going on.

"Right. Everyone out the back door. K-9 stay with me."

.

Mickey smiled as he herded all of the children out of the class rooms. Everyone was gone and safe. That was when Mickey got a text from Rose.

'Get out of school!'

He ran.

.

The Doctor began to line up the barrels of oil, making sure K-9 could hit them all.

"Capacity for only one shot, Master. For maximum impact, I must be stationed directly beside the vat." K-9 said.

The Doctor stopped working and looked at K-9 with a frowned.

"But you'll be trapped inside." he whimpered.

"That is correct." K-9 said.

"But you're Penny's best friend." the Doctor said. "I can't let you do that."

"No alternative possible, Master." K-9 said.

The Doctor stopped moving the barrels and walked over to K-9. He knelt in front of the metal dog and pressed his forehead against the cold hard metal. It was yet another loss.

"Goodbye, old friend." the Doctor whispered, patting K-9's metal cheek.

"Goodbye, Master." K-9 replied.

The Doctor got up and moved away, standing in the doorway. He looked back at K-9 with tears swelling in his eyes.

"You good dog." he said.

"Affirmative." K-9 replied.

.

The Doctor sealed the door to the kitchen. He frowned when he saw Penny standing outside. He looked at her.

"Where's K-9?" Penny asked as the Doctor grabbed her.

"We need to run." he said.

"Where is he?" Penny demanded as she was lead away from the door. "What have you done?"

.

"When you find him, eat him if you must, but bring me his brain." Finch said as he and all the other teachers walked in.

He saw K-9 and frowned.

"The little dog with a nasty bite. Not so powerful now, are you?"

K-9 fired a sustained blast at the nearest barrel. The Krillitanes were splatted with with their own oil. They winced in pain.

"You bad dog!" Finch shouted.

"Affirmative." K-9 said in the closest thing that the robot would manage in smugness.

The Krillitanes began to gasp in pain.

.

The school exploded. Kenny turned to Penny as she disappeared through the crowd. Melissa turned to Kenny and began to ask him questions about the school blowing up. Soon the school began to cheer Kenny's name. Kenny noted, however, that Penny was the person who began the chanting. Part of him wanted to follow her but she was soon gone.

She had gone over to the Doctor. She looked up at him.

"I'm sorry." the Doctor murmured.

"It's all right. He was just a daft metal dog. It's fine, really." Penny managed before she broke into tears.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around her and then kissed her through her hair.

.

The TARDIS was now positioned in a nearby park, away from the police cars and fire engines that had turned up at the school. Inside, Penny and Sarah Jane were looking around. Penny had seen the place since she was four and she couldn't really remember what it looked like. As Penny took it all in, Sarah Jane turned to Rose.

"Hey, you what's forty seven times three hundred and sixty nine?" she asked.

Rose shrugged, having no idea.

"But you're still clever. More than a match for him, in any case." Sarah Jane smirked, pointing at the Doctor.

"You and me both." Rose laughed.

She paused and smiled gently, trying to work out how to phrase her question.  
>"You could come with us? Can't she Doctor?"<p>

"No, I can't do this any more. Besides, Penny has school to go to and a life of her own to find." Sarah Jane said.

"Can I come? No, not with you, I mean with you. Because I'm not the tin dog, and I want to see what's out there." Mickey said, walking forwards and looking at the Doctor.

Penny smiled.

"Go on Doctor, you need a Smith on board." Penny said.

The Doctor smiled and nodded. He began to show Penny all of the monitors with a smile. Sarah Jane walked towards the door and Rose looked at her and moved closer.

"What do I do? Do I stay or should I go?" Rose asked.

"Yes. Some things are worth getting your heart broken for. Find me, if you need to, one day. Find me." Sarah Jane said and walked out.

After a few minutes, the Doctor walked out to join her.

.

Sarah Jane and the Doctor stood outside the TARDIS, smiling at each other. Penny was still inside.

"It's daft, but I haven't ever thanked you for that time. And like I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Something to tell the grand-kids." the Doctor pointed out. "Since you've already told you daughter all of them."

"I'm not sure whether Penny's going to be the family type. It's not like she's had the most stable home." Sarah Jane remarked sadly, looking down.

The Doctor suddenly felt sad for his old friend. Sarah Jane seemed to have it all completely together but there was one large piece of the picture that was missing.

"Right. Yes, sorry. I didn't get a chance to ask. Where's Penny's dad?"

"Well, there was this one guy. I travelled with him for a while, but he was a tough act to follow. And, when I finally found someone, he was an alien hunter – a member of UNIT. He was killed on a mission while I was still pregnant with Penny. We had put our wedding on hold so I could have her and then he was killed right in front of me."

"But you've done such a great job. She's just like you, a fighter." the Doctor said.

Penny walked slowly out of the TARDIS and to her mother's side. The Doctor smiled at Penny.

"Goodbye, Doctor." Sarah Jane said.

"Oh, it's not goodbye." the Doctor tried.  
>Sarah Jane shook her head and put her arm around Penny.<p>

"Do say it. Please. This time. Say it."

"Goodbye, Sarah Jane. Goodbye, Penny." he said.

"Can we get a picture?" Penny asked.

She produced her phone and the Doctor called Rose out. The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Rose stood in front of the TARDIS as Rose took the photo. With the photo taken, the Doctor kissed Penny and Sarah Jane on the forehead. Then Rose and the Doctor disappeared into the TARDIS. The time machine disappeared and Sarah Jane began to walk away. Penny stopped to look back at it as it disappeared and gasped.  
>"Mum! Look!" Penny squealed, rushing forwards.<p>

She knelt down beside the robot dog and kissed the metal head.

"But you were blown up." Sarah Jane said.

"The Master rebuilt me. My systems are much improved with new undetectable hyperlink facilities."

"He replaced you with a brand new model." Penny murmured, hugging the dog.

"Affirmative." K-9 answered.

"Come on, lets get home." Sarah Jane said.

Then her phone rang. She answered it as Penny and K-9 began to walk with her.

"Sarah Jane, I've got something you might want to check out..."


	12. Meet Ava

Thanks to GemYin who now checks through this story.

I don't own the Sarah Jane Adventures.

* * *

><p>It was a normal afternoon for the gang. They were sitting in the attic, talking to the alien computer they were friends with. Clyde and Penny were sitting next to each other, playing a new game on their phones. Luke and Maria were talking to Mr Smith as he told them about the wonders of the universe. Sarah Jane was out, doing the weekly shop. Penny and Luke normally went with her but they had managed to convince her to let them escape the torture that week.<br>"You got anything interesting for us, Mr Smith?" Clyde said, putting his phone away.

"You're just annoyed that Penny keeps winning." Maria laughed.

Soon though, all the teenagers were pining for Mr Smith to give them something else to do. They all turned to the computer, asking him to do all manner of scans.

"Hurry up, Mr Smith." Penny moaned.

"Perhaps, seeing as you are all so bored, you wouldn't mind going and welcoming an alien ship that is landing on Earth." Mr Smith said.

"What type of ship?" Penny inquired.

"A Riso merchant ship."

A smile grew across Penny's face as she found that the species they would be dealing with were not dangerous. In fact, the Riso were a peace keeping group of aliens who enjoyed trading in fine sauces.

"Come on, lets go."

.

Ava White crept out of her house and closed the door. She was shaking. Something really bad had happened and it had happened again. There were screaming and sobbing sounds echoing from inside the house as Ava crept down the street. All she wanted to do was get away. She would go to somewhere where she could be alone, completely alone, and not have to deal with anyone. As she walked down the street, totally absorbed in her own fear and horror, she collided with someone. She fell over and looked up. A boy her age, roughly fourteen, was standing there. The boy helped Ava to her feet and smiled.

"I'm sorry." the boy said.

Suddenly the boy's friends, two girls and one boy, called her over.

"Clyde, can you please get your butt in gear?" one of the girls called.

"We need to go and find that ship." the other boy called.

Clyde smiled slightly and looked back at Ava.

"I'm sorry, again, just..."

Then Clyde brushed round Ava and continued to walk down the street. Ava turned and looked at the group. As soon as Clyde had met up with them, they broke into a jog. Ava wondered slightly what they meant by ship. They were too far from the river to be after a normal ship and... Ava decided to investigate. She closed her eyes and, when she opened the again, began to walk forwards. However no one would be able to see Ava walk after the group because Ava had turned invisible.

.

Clyde, Luke and Maria stared at the ship. It was made out of dirty pale metal and covered the basketball court it had landed in. The ship has landed in the centre of a park that wasn't used lots so no one was around to see it. It was a pity they weren't, the ship looked magnificent. Penny smiled at it.

"The Riso are well known for their love of nature, food and parties. They invent lots but scrap everything they do if it doesn't look good." Penny said, beginning to walk towards the ship. "Riso's grow to about a metre in height but travel around on small hover disks that mean they can navigate places for your taller alien normally."

The ramp that lead up to the ship began to descend and, if it was even possible, Penny's smile widened.

"You have not tasted chips until they've have Riso sauce on them." Penny said.

Then two figures moved out of the doorway. They were taller than a man and they stalked forwards, getting closer and clearer.

"Get back." Penny said. "Those aren't Riso."

The others looked at her as they stared at the snarling figures. They had large teeth over hanging from their jaws and their noses were scrunched up. They gnashed their jaws and sniffed the air. They were dressed in tatty clothes that looked like a cross between chain mail and cloth. More appeared in the doorway.

"Get out of here!" Penny shouted and the group began to run.

However the creatures didn't follow them and the teenagers noticed. They dived behind some of the fencing the basketball court and watched as the aliens continued to sniff the air.

"What are they doing?" Maria whispered.

"I don't know." Penny said. "I don't recognise the species."

"But you're sure they're not Riso." Clyde asked.

Luke looked at his sister.

"They must be space pirates or something." Penny said.

"Do you really get space pirates?"

"Yeah."

Suddenly there was a barbaric roar. The teenagers all glanced at each other and then fell back.

"We need to get out of here." Clyde said, sounding very worried.

"No." Luke protested.

"We need to get onto that ship."

They looked at Penny as if she was insane. She began to explain that there was a chance that the Riso were inside the space ship and that she had to save them.

"Stay here." Penny said as she moved towards the ship.

A hand landed on her shoulder. Penny turned and looked at Clyde.

"No chance. I'm coming with you." Clyde informed her and the two crept towards the ship.

.

A few metres away, Ava watched the gang. She was terrified but, as she saw Penny and Clyde edging towards the spaceship, she knew that something was very wrong. She could easily creep in. She moved closer and made her way past the creatures, joining the two others inside.

.

"So what do you think those creatures are?" Clyde whispered as they walked through the ship.

It seemed completely empty. All the creatures seemed to have already left. That meant there were only six aliens they had to deal with.

"Trouble. If they are pirates then us going onto their ship might as well be letting them kidnap us."

Clyde smiled at Penny as if he couldn't quite comprehend what she had done but also had predicted it from her.

"And you knew this before hand."

"So did you. You won't have agreed to it if you didn't suspect it would be dangerous."

Penny looked back at Clyde and smirked. He blushed and looked away, realising that Penny could read him like a book.

"What exactly are we looking for?" a voice asked.

Clyde and Penny both searched around. The voice had been female, sounding young and human but there was no one there.

"Hello?" Penny called out silently.

Suddenly Penny's phone rang. She answered it and told Clyde to keep looking.

"Bro, what's wrong?" Penny asked.

"The creatures are going back in. They look like their hunting something."

Penny looked at Clyde and hung up the phone, pulling him into hiding. He looked at her.

"The creatures are coming back. We need to get out of here." Penny smiled.

The creatures came in growling, they scanned the area and Penny pulled out her phone, taking a picture of the creatures. The phone made a tiny noise as she took the picture. At the noise the creatures stopped growling. Clyde looked at Penny as she slipped her phone away with a proud smile.

"There's someone here." one of the creatures growled.

Penny and Clyde looked at each other.

"We really need to get out of here." Clyde whispered.

Suddenly the creatures turned to them and pulled them out of hiding. The creatures were extremely strong and it took only one to restrain each teenager.

"Who are you?" one of the creature's snarled as the others sniffed the teenagers.

"We are the Earth representatives of the Shadow Proclamation. We are investigating interplanetary ship hijacking and we are under the impression that this Riso merchant ship has been hijacked." Penny said, throwing out all of the space policing jargon she knew.

"Are you members of the Riso?" Clyde inquired, putting on the most professional voice he could.

He knew that Luke and Maria must have realised that something was up. They would probably be on their way to help them. All they needed to do was stall the creatures.  
>"We are the Wiquo." one of the creatures announced. "We are hunting down a Kwokirian child."<p>

The leader of the creatures turned to Clyde and sniffed him where he had walked into the girl before.

"And if you want your friend to live, I suggest you hand yourself in Kwokirian."

The Wiquo holding Penny threw her to the ground and pulled off one of his gloves, reaching towards her. Whatever the Wiquo intended for Penny, it clearly wasn't going to be good for her. Clyde wasn't sure what was happening. He guessed he had been mistaken for an alien and that the creatures had identified Penny as human and therefore decided she was vulnerable. Clyde wasn't sure what to do. It horrified him. Penny was like a sister to him and, as the hand moved closer to Penny, Clyde snapped.

"I'm human! I'm stupidly human. Just leave her alone!"

Penny was trying to get up but it wasn't working. She couldn't move. Suddenly Penny felt hands pull her up. She stood up and looked around.

"You need to run." a voice whispered in her ear.

"Penny?" Clyde gasped.

Suddenly a girl appeared behind Penny. The girl had long blonde-white hair and had piercing blue eyes. She looked at Clyde with a frown.

"Run!" the girl shouted, looking at Penny.

The two teenagers looked at the girl who had suddenly appeared. Clyde looked at the creatures and began to struggle wildly as they closed in on Penny and the girl. The girl grabbed Penny's hand and then Clyde's. She ran forwards and pulled Penny and Clyde with her. She ran straight towards the creatures and then straight through them. The two teenaged alien busters were pulled with her.

"Grab them!" one of the Wiquo ordered.

The three teenagers ran out.

"We need to get out of here." Penny said.

"But... She has powers like..." Clyde stammered.

The girl blushed and moved away. Penny and Clyde moved towards Maria and Luke.

"We need to leave, right now. Take this girl back to the attic." Penny instructed.

"She has powers like Superman!" Clyde exclaimed.

They heard the creatures coming and the group ran, pretty much for their lives.

.

Ava watched as the teenagers ran into the house. She wasn't sure what to do. The house looked completely normal. Clyde opened the door.

"Who are you people?" Ava asked, slowly backing away.

"Luke, do introductions." Clyde ordered as Penny opened the door.  
>"And get her in the house." Penny said, running inside.<p>

"The girl who just ran up the stairs is my sister, Penny. The boy who's at the door is Clyde. The other girl is Maria and I'm Luke. It's really nice to meet you."

Ava blushed a bit. She was rather shy.

"I'm Ava, Ava white." she said slowly.

"Ava, we need to go inside because there's a group of aliens after you and..."

Maria looked at Luke as he had a very pleasant and long winded conversation while they were being hunted by aliens.

"We need to go inside." Maria said.

"Yes." Luke said, heading inside.

"Come on, Ava."

.

"Mr Smith, give me everything you have on the Wiquo." Penny ordered as she raced into the attic.

"You're becoming more like your mother everyday." Mr Smith remarked but began to look up the alien species.

"And we'll need to scan the girl."

"Her name is Ava." Luke said, appeared in the doorway with Clyde and Maria.

Ava brushed past the group and looked at the alien computer.

"That's an alien computer." Ava gasped, suddenly wanting to sit down.

"You're freaking out over that? You were just on a spaceship." Clyde exclaimed.

"Culture shock." Penny said.

"The Wiquo are an alien race from Kwiro. They are a dangerous beastly race known for their extremely powerful senses, brutality towards other species and ability to draw a person's life energy from them with one touch, leaving behind a shell."

"Okay, why would they be after Ava?"

"The Wiquo share their planet with the Kwokirians. The Kwokirians are a powerful race with strong abilities. They have a strong life force and are hunted by the Wiquo for food. This has caused the Kwokirians to decrease in number rapidly."

"But I'm human!" Ava exclaimed. "I'm not a Kwokirian."

"How do you know? Have you ever seen any proof that shows you're not a Kwokirian?"  
>"You can turn invisible. I'm pretty sure that makes you a Kwokirian." Clyde pointed out.<p>

"We could scan her." Luke said slowly.

Penny lead Ava over to the centre of the attic. Mr Smith began to scan Ava. She was nervous at the scan but everyone assured her nothing bad would happen.

"What is that thing?" Ava said when Mr Smith began to analyse the scan.

"It's an alien computer called Mr Smith." Maria explained. "He's like our version of a search engine only he knows more and talks to us."

"Scan complete." Mr Smith said. "Ava is a Kwokirian."

Ava's jaw dropped. She sunk back as the other teenagers began to make a plan, thinking over every detail. They were trying to analyse weaknesses, ways of keeping Ava away from the Kwokirians.

"How could she have got here?" Luke asked.

"I will contact the ship the Wiquo arrived in and access their data stores." Mr Smith said.

Ava heard a knock at the door and tried to make contact with the others but they were too busy planning.

"A Kwokirian ship was being hunted by them fourteen years ago. They came close to Earth and later escaped."

"Could they have dropped Ava off on Earth?" Clyde asked as he and Penny paced the room.

"Is it possible for us to contact the ship?"

"There's someone at the door." Ava tried but she was too quiet.

Ava sighed and decided to go and get the door herself. She couldn't take all of the alien stuff that the others were debating.

.

Ava opened the door and gasped. She slammed it and pressed herself against it.  
>"Help!"<p>

.

The teenagers all turned to the door, hearing the call.  
>"Where's Ava gone?" Maria asked.<p>

Suddenly Ava screamed again. The teenagers began to run down the stairs and saw the front door was ripped off it's hinges. There was a noise coming from the lounge and Clyde edged the door open. He could see four Wiquo standing in the lounge, surrounding Ava.

"Oi!" Clyde shouted, hitting the door and making a lot of noise.

The Wiquo turned and looked at him. Ava used it as a chance to run past the creatures. She ran so fast she was going at super speed. The Wiquo had no time to react.

"Out, now!" Luke ordered, racing to the door.

Penny and Clyde joined him just as a group of two Wiquo moved from the kitchen. They blocked off Maria and Ava.

"Don't let them touch you!" Penny shouted, pulling Clyde back as one of the Wiquo turned to him.

She looked at Luke and then nodded towards the stairs, getting Maria and Ava to run up them. Then the other three teenagers backed out of the door and locked it.

.

Maria and Ava ran into the attic. Maria raced towards a chair and began to move it in front of the door.

"We need to think of a way out of here." Maria said. "Mr Smith, have you managed to contact the Kwokirian space ship? Because that would be really useful right now."

"I have contacted them alerting them to the situation."

"I'm not an alien." Ava protested.

It was mostly in denial. She knew full well that she was an alien by that point but part of her didn't want to be. It answered so many questions. Ava had never known her parents. She has never even once met them. It told her who she was, why she had her powers and just made her whole life have some sort of sense.

"Mr Smith, there is going to be a set of aliens, have you got defence programs or something?"

"Only Penelope and Sarah Jane have access to my defence systems." Mr Smith answered.

"Well that is stupid." Ava muttered.

"Okay, Mr Smith close up. We don't want the Wiquo to have access to you." Maria said.

She wished her friends were there but she knew it was only down to her. She had to get her and Ava out without letting the Wiquo touch them.

"Open the window." Ava said, suddenly taking control.

"What?"

"Open the window."

"We're not jumping!" Maria gasped.

"No. Clyde said I had powers like Superman. What can Superman do?"

.

Penny, Luke and Clyde ducked into the garden. They couldn't lead the Wiquo out to the street so they had decided to keep them in the grounds. Penny looked at Luke and at his bare sleeves. She knew that if Luke got attacked by the Wiquo he had a lot of exposed skin for them to touch. Clyde was wearing a jacket and she was wearing a long sleeve top.

"You two keep watch." Penny said.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked, still looking out.

Penny slid open the window, pulling it wide, her eyes were fixed on Luke's jacket that was over the edge of the sofa.

"Mum always leaves it on the catch in case I need to break in." Penny said.

Luke turned to his sister and grabbed her arm. Officially he was older than her. He was the older sibling and he was meant to protect her. Luke tried to tell his sister to not do it.

"What if there's a Wiquo in there?" Luke asked.

Penny frowned and glanced around her lounge. Her arm was half in. She was pretty much sitting on the window sill.

"I'll get out quickly." Penny assured him. "I'll just get your jacket and..."

Penny gasped. A Wiquo's hand was clamped around her arm.

.

Maria looked at Ava as if she was insane.

"You can fly!" Maria gasped. "There is no way you can fly."

Maria had seen aliens who could fly. In fact the first aliens she had seen had been able to fly. It just wasn't easy to comprehend that a girl her age, who looked human, could fly.

"I can fly and I can carry you." Ava reasoned. "We need to get out of here."

Suddenly there was a thud against the door.

"What if someone sees us?" Maria asked, opening the window.

"I'll turn invisible."

There was another thud.

'_Sarah Jane is going to kill me._' Maria thought as the door began to splinter.

She grabbed onto Ava and smiled as her feet lifted off the floor.

.

Luke and Penny had both frozen as the Wiquo held Penny's arm. Clyde turned and looked at the Wiquo in horror.

"What are you up to?" the Wiquo asked.

Penny grimaced at the creature's breath and noticed Clyde's reflection in the glass. He was moving towards something. Penny knew something was happening and had to distract him.

"I'm getting my brother's jacket. Do you think you could let me get it?" Penny asked, shifting around so she could leap back as soon as she could escape.

Clyde closed his hand around a gardening tool and hit the Wiquo in the arm, pulling Penny back at the same time. She fell back and pressed the window against the arm of the creature.

"How can we fight something we can't even touch?"

"I have no idea." Luke said.

.

Maria enjoyed the feeling of flying. It was amazing. She felt so free, as if she could forget all her cares. She had been into space but this was different. It was new, exciting. She could feel the wind through her hair and the air just seemed cleaner as she was carried through the air. She felt completely alone and at peace despite the fact she was holding onto Ava.

"I don't believe this." Maria gasped.

"I didn't when I first managed it." Ava murmured.

She scanned the ground below as they circled the house.

"There's your friends." Ava said, pointing down.

"Ava, soon you could be with your family." Maria pointed out.

"I'm... I've never really had a family before." Ava admitted, beginning to lower herself down.

Maria turned to Ava. She had never had a big family. Now she felt like she had siblings with the gang and a second mum in Sarah Jane.

"Speaking of families, I think I might need to rescue mine."

.

Luke, Penny and Clyde barly noticed when Maria and Ava landed. They were invisible and the group only realised they were there when Maria began to talk.

"Um... Where are you?" Luke asked.

"I'm here." Maria said as Ava turned her visible. "What is the plan?"

"The plan is to get Ava to her space ship. Mr Smith called me. The ship is on it's way to Earth. We just need to get her down to the park and draw the Wiquo there as well. The Kwokirians have the technology to capture them and they'll..." Luke trailed off, not exactly sure how to phrase what he was about to say.

"They'll take you with them." Penny said. "It's your choice but... They could be your family and..."

Ava looked down at the ground, trying to work out what to do. She turned to the others. She hadn't known them for more than two hours and yet she... She felt attached to them. She wasn't attached to the planet. She didn't like most of it. She guessed she would miss some things but those things would soon be replaced by a family.

.

Penny was on the phone to Mr Smith. He was their link between the gang and the aliens. Ava had super sped them to the park and Luke had worked on the space ship, putting it out of action in case the creatures attempted to flee.

"Okay, the Kwokirian ship is in Earth's atmosphere." Penny announced. "ETA ten minutes."

"That fast?" Clyde exclaimed, walking over to Penny.

"Well it is only a scout ship." Penny said.

"Penny, if your..." Clyde began, beginning to get the courage to ask Penny out.

"If I'm what?" Penny asked, moving closer.

She wanted Clyde to ask her out. She did. She wouldn't do it. She would never live it down if Clyde turned her down.

"If you're injured, then you could sit out. I know that Wiquo grabbed you and..." Clyde trailed off.

He wanted to kick himself. He couldn't believe he had messed up so badly.

_Why can't I just ask her?_

"I'm fine." Penny said, hiding her disappointment.

She began to walk away. She knew she couldn't let it distract her but there was a certain part of her that really liked Clyde. She had known him for a long while. She hadn't really talked to him before, just known him from school and other things but she loved the fact that she could share her more adventurous life style with him. Other than Luke, Clyde probably knew her better than any other boy in the whole world. Suddenly Penny felt a hand in hers. She turned and looked at Clyde.

"Penny Smith, do you want to go out with me?" Clyde asked. "I'm not joking. I mean, we could grab a pizza or go and watch a film but it would just be us. How about that?"

A smile crossed Penny's lips. She turned to look at Luke, Maria and Ava who were working on the plan. She nodded silently before getting her thoughts together.

"Yeah, I'd... I'd like that. I mean... As friends."

"I was kinda hoping a bit more than friends." Clyde said.

.

The Wiquo could smell the teenagers. They were following the scent. The human teenagers had caused them too much trouble already. Not only did they stink of horrible greasy fast food and sweat and other things that the Wiquo counted themselves lucky for not having on their planets, they also were problematic. They got in the way. The only upside was that human life forces were actually quite tasty.

.

Ava noted that Penny and Clyde were holding hands as they began to put the plan into action. They knew they couldn't trick the Wiquo by hiding, nor could they fight them in the normal sense. In fact they only had one other option. They were going to face them, stall them until the Kowkirian ship got there and dealt with them.

The six Wiquo faced the five teenagers.

"Where's Sarah Jane when you need her?" Clyde asked in whispered tones.

Penny smiled, squeezing his hand. Luke noticed with horror that Clyde and Penny were holding hands at that point. He knew that was what couples did and he didn't really like the idea of it. He liked Clyde, he liked Penny and he knew they liked each other but there was just something that made Luke find it a bit pointless. It was just a public way of showing that two people were in love and love wasn't meant to be about the outward show of things. It was meant to be personal. He guessed he was just looking at it with the sort of view the Bane had programmed him to look at it.

Maria moved forwards, getting between Ava and the creatures.

"Welcome to Earth." Penny said, joining her best friend. "Now leave."

"Why are you even here?" Maria asked.

"Cause they're lazy." Clyde answered. "Think about it, there are probably loads of different meals out there but they chose to come to Earth full of slow moving humans and one Kwokirian because they can't be bothered to catch something bigger."

"No kidding." Penny said.

Luke moved forwards.

"It's just a pity that the only humans they've met on this planet have been us. We're not the best welcoming committee for evil life force consuming aliens."

"You are not wrong there, bro."

Suddenly Penny's phone rung. She turned away and backed up so she could answer it.

"Anyway what sort of name is Wiquo. It's a stupid name for a bunch of aliens. You could be the Destroyers or something really cool like that. I think calling you the Destroyers would be good or something suited to your abilities. You've got great noses, you could be the Sniffers."

"Not the best noses in the galaxy though." Luke pointed out. "Those are the Slitheen and you know how that turned out for them."

"They were vinegared." Maria said.

It sounded threatening to the Wiquo who had no idea what vinegar was. They mistook it for some sort of gun and backed off a step. Penny walked back around Ava, giving her her phone and an instruction as she went.

"Sorry, just Mr Smith telling me where our back up is." Penny said.

"So you were stalling to allow your back up to get here." one of the Wiquo said. "How sweet. A foolish tactic once you let your enemy find out about it."

The Wiquo began to move forwards.

"You were going to find out about it sooner or later." Penny said, making a signal back to Ava.

Ava raised the phone and said a two word command down the phone to Mr Smith to relay to the ship.

"Especially since it's already here."

An alien scout ship appeared in the sky. It was grey and round and hovering in the air above them. Maria laughed at the sight of it. Luke marvelled at how technical it all was and Clyde just couldn't help but smile at the proud grin that was covering Penny's face.

"Say hello Ava's family." Penny smirked.

The Wiquo looked at the teenagers. They knew they had failed. They knew they had been captured but they were going to have one more meal. They were going to kill the children even if it cost them their lives. They sped forwards, racing towards the group. Ava felt tempted to run but Maria told her to hold her ground. They all stood there.

Just as a beam of burning white light hit the ground in front of them. As the Wiquo ran into it, they began to disappear.

"What was that?" Ava asked as the beam was shut off and the Wiquo had completely vanished.

"Teleport." Penny said.

Luke, Clyde and Maria felt a bit sick. They had fought Kudlak and taken a trip in his teleporter. It wasn't pleasant.

"What will happen to them?" Ava asked, moving to the space that the Wiquo had been a few seconds before.

"They'll be locked up." Luke said.

"Should have them sent to Volag-Noc. No wait, that's in the future. Stupid Doctor for telling me that." Penny muttered, wondering back.

Suddenly the beam was switched back on. Everyone jumped. Two adults landed on the floor and smiled at Ava. One of them was a tall and beautiful woman. The other was a man with stubble over his chin. Both were dressed in grey jumpsuits.

"Peliora!" the woman shouted, pulling Ava into a hug. "It's been so long."

"Who are you?" Ava asked.

The man smiled, picking up Ava.

"We're your parents. We're so sorry we left you on Earth but the Wiquo... They after us. It was the only way to keep you safe."

"It's okay." Ava said with tears swelling up in her eyes.  
>She was just so happy.<p>

"Do you think I could go with you?" Ava asked. "Go back to your planet."

"Of course, Peliora." the man said, kissing Ava's forehead.

"Is Peliora my name?"

"Yes." her mother said.

She turned to the gang who were watching the scene with smiles on their faces.

"Thank you for saving her." the mother said before the beam reappeared and they were gone.

The teenagers all turned to each other then looked at the spaceship they would have to somehow hide.

.

They had emptied the spacecraft of everything that could be used as a weapon and were getting ready to hand it over to UNIT. Of course there was still a small matter that they had to resolve. When Sarah Jane came back to find the teenagers, she was told the story about what had happened with Ava or, as she was no known, Peliora. What really got Sarah Jane's attention was the way that Luke kept looking at Clyde and Penny. When Penny left to walk Clyde and Maria out, Sarah Jane turned to Luke.

"What is bothering you, Luke?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Do people change when they start dating someone?" Luke asked.

"Some people do, some people don't. Why are you asking?"

"Because Clyde asked out Penny today and she said yes and..."

"Penelope Florana Smith, get back in this attic right now!" Sarah Jane shouted.

* * *

><p>I hope you enjoyed that, now two things.<p>

Penny's middle name is a bit of trivia. Sarah Jane and the Third Doctor went to a planet called Florana in the year 5968 where they saved an emperor from being posioned and therefore help a peace treaty be signed. I thought it was rather fitting for Penny's middle name to be one of the planets Sarah Jane visited with the Doctor.

Another thing: the next chapter will be my take on 'Whatever happened to Sarah Jane'. It's going to be changed to fit this time line and reveal more about the characters. If you don't like it, I apologise in advance but I thought it would help with the characters a bit more.


	13. Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane part 1

I don't own the Sarah Jane adventures. Thanks once again to GemYin for checking this.

* * *

><p>Sarah Jane stood in front of Penny and Clyde who, both sitting on the sofa, looked awkward.<br>"So you two are...?" Sarah Jane trailed off.

"Yeah." Penny said, turning the word in her mouth.

"You're thirteen. Surely you two should be focusing on more than just dating."

"We are." Clyde assured her. "It's just that me and Penny are really close and..."

"We want to date." Penny finished.

Sarah Jane didn't want it to happen. Penny was her daughter. She could remember holding a baby Penny in her arms and wondering what the future held. Sarah Jane liked Clyde, she thought he was a great friend to Penny and Luke but... If Penny and Clyde broke up then Clyde might take revenge on her by telling people. She knew however that if she didn't let them try then Penny might resent her.

"Here are the rules." Sarah Jane began. "Every date ends at nine, this is not allowed to become a distraction, homework comes before dates and anything done, said or even implied in front of Luke is explained by you two."

Clyde and Penny both stood up, nodding and telling Sarah Jane they completely agreed. Both went to leave but Sarah Jane called Penny back.

"Are you sure about this? You could wait." Sarah Jane said.

"Mum... I love your concern but..." Penny smiled. "I'm not a baby any more."

Sarah Jane smiled and hugged her, kissing her hair. Penny looked up at her mum.

"I'm always going to be your little girl." Penny said. "But I'm also going to grow up."

.

Penny smiled as she looked around the attic.

"What a sweet gift?" she remarked, looking at the puzzle box. "It'll keep Luke quiet for a few minutes."

"Let me have a look." Clyde said, being the only person in the attic with her.

She handed him the small metal box. It had just been given to them by a group of aliens to thank them for fixing their ship. When it had been given to them, the alien had simply said remember.

"If you can solve it, I'll tell you another story about my time with UNIT."

"When are you going to let me join UNIT?" Clyde asked.

"Maybe when the Brig actually gets comfortable with the idea that his little girl has a boyfriend."

"Well, I'm going to solve this at home." Clyde said, studying the box.

He turned to Penny and the two hugged before saying their goodbyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Penny said. "For our first date."

.

Clyde kept working on the puzzle box. He couldn't sleep. It wasn't that he was desperate to hear one of Penny's stories. He just wanted to prove to Penny that he could solve something. As he worked, the box slid open slightly but not far enough for Clyde to see inside. He looked at the box and sighed before drifting off to sleep, holding the box in his hand.

.

A dark hooded figure moved down the street of Bannerman road. He surveyed the houses with a dark air and then his eyes settled on one – Sarah Jane's. He pointed his finger up to the house and the whole universe changed.

.

Clyde woke up to the sound of his mother calling his name. He looked at the puzzle box and sighed, putting it on the side. He would have to admit to Penny that he hadn't managed to get it fully open.

"Okay." Clyde called. "I'm up."

He rolled over to a more comfortable position and dug his head into the pillow.

"Get out of bed. You'll be late." Carla said, appearing in the doorway.

"Late for what?" Clyde moaned. "It's Saturday."  
>He tried to remember if he had any plans that meant he was needed to be there on time. He had arranged to meet up with Penny at her house but that was all.<p>

"Work. Lance Corporal Carter called, sounded pretty annoyed. Something about a group of rouge Slitheen."

"What?"

"Just get your uniform on. She said they'll pick you up on the way."

Clyde rolled over so he could look at his mum. She threw a black combat uniform at him. It landed on Clyde's face. He pulled of the uniform and noticed something pinned to the front. It was a UNIT badge. Clyde frowned.

That's not right. Clyde thought.

Still, he got dressed and slipped the puzzle box into his pocket.

.

Clyde heard a knock at the door.

"That'll be Carter." Carla said, going to the door.

Clyde had changed into the uniform and subtly found out that he worked for UNIT, was tutored there so he didn't have to go to school and that Lance Corporal Carter was in charge of the small elite group he was part of. Clyde had no idea how it had happened. He decided to call on of the Smiths. He scrolled down and saw Luke's number was missing. He was about to go down to find Penny when his mum and Lance Corporal Carter walked in.

Clyde's jaw dropped. Her had expected Carter to be an official looking young woman or some sort of frosty old spy. He was very wrong. Carter was a beautiful but very familiar girl. She was dressed in a UNIT uniform and had a beret on with the UNIT wings at the centre. She had a very deadly looking gun strapped to her side and was smiling dangerously at Clyde. Clyde wasn't sure if it was shocked because of how familiar and yet different the girl looked or simply because she was so beautiful.

"Penny?" Clyde managed.

"Clyde, are you coming or not?" Penny asked.

.

Penny climbed into a large black four by four. Clyde stood in the street. For a few moments he had expected Sarah Jane's small blue car. It was quite a shock. Clyde slowly joined Penny in the car. Penny was sitting in the back with him. The driver's seat was taken by a young man in an UNIT uniform. He drove off silently.

"Private Jackson is going to meet us there with the vinegar."

Clyde was completely confused. Penny was talking like she was some sort of agent of UNIT – she was, she had joined UNIT at the age of seven, but that wasn't the point. She didn't normally act like that. Something about this whole thing didn't sit right. Clyde wasn't sure what it was. He also didn't like the fact that he didn't have Luke's number. He hadn't deleted it.

Yeah, something's wrong here. Clyde decided. It's just a matter of finding out what and putting it right.

"Lance Corporal?" Clyde questioned. "Since when were you a Lance Corporal?"

"It's been like that since the Bubble Shock incident due to me organising the take-down due to a lack of personnel who didn't drink the stuff."

"And what's with the Carter? You're not married are you?"

Something was really wrong. Penny wore the Smith name with great pride. She was very proud of her mother and the legacy she had inherited from getting the name. This whole thing didn't sit right with Clyde, in fact it scared him a bit.

"Clyde, I'm thirteen. I'm not married." Penny laughed.

She had a light smile on her face, much like the Penny Clyde knew, the Penny Clyde was dating. Yet there was still something wrong. The way she talked and acted it was just a bit off.

"But your last name is Smith, not Carter." Clyde said.

"Nope."

"But your mum, Sarah Jane Smith..."

"Clyde, stop." Penny instructed.

Her smile had faded. She looked at Clyde with a frown. There was something in her eyes at the mention of that name, a horrible sadness.

"Penny, what's...?"

"Private Langer, unless you stop right now, I will suspend you from this mission." Penny snapped.

After her sudden outburst, she sunk into her seat and looked out of the darkened windows. From then on, the journey was silent.

.

When they got out of the car, they were at a Cold Fire construction building. Clyde remembered how they had been linked to the Slitheen's plot before. Penny walked over to a girl who was dressed in a similar uniform. Clyde recognised her as Maria. Clyde walked over and Maria unloaded a Jeep, getting out all of the crates that seemed to contain very advanced water pistols.

"Hey, Maria, can you tell me what on Earth is going on with Penny?"

"Today Major Spilburn wants a word with her and the Sergeant about Prisoner 453. She's a bit uptight about that. The Major, in his infinite wisdom, is attempting to take him from the wonderful mother hen."

"But Penny doesn't normally act like this, all special agent and... Where's Luke?"

"Who's Luke?" Maria asked. "You know what, Clyde? We don't have time for this. We have some Slitheen to fight."

.

Armed with water pistols, the three teenagers walked through the construction like room. Crates were everywhere and there was a smell in the air. Clyde was sure they had stopped all the Slitheen during the battle at the school.

"Are you sure this is a Slitheen?" Clyde whispered.

Penny and Maria were both taking militarised stances as they rounded corners, covering themselves with the water pistols. Clyde felt a bit under prepared. He barely knew how to take the stances that Penny and Maria were taking.

"What are we going to do?" Clyde whispered.

"For a start you are going to shut up, Langer." a voice crackled over the radio.

"Sergeant, do I have permission to send Langer back?"

"Permission granted, Lance Corporal."

Penny turned to Clyde and Maria.

"Langer, go outside, Jackson make sure he goes out."

"The Sergeant won't be very happy about this, Penny." Maria said.

"I know, Maria, but I need to get my anger out on something and I don't think Major Spilburn will be very happy if I blast him with vinegar." Penny smirked.

A bit of the Penny Clyde knew shone through for just a second. That was the girl he was meant to be going on a date with.

"Have the driver take him back to base." Penny instructed.

Then Penny began to walk off. Maria turned to Clyde.

"She could die. Let me stay, we could help."

Maria looked at Clyde. At any other time she would have stayed to help Penny but now Penny seemed to have a leadership role.

"I'm sorry but we need her on her best behaviour for when she is campaigning for the rights of Prisoner 453." Maria said, leading Clyde outside.

.

Clyde had been driven to an official looking UNIT base. He had spent the journey working out what on Earth was going on. Clearly something had happened to Sarah Jane and Luke and brain washed Penny and Maria. It was getting bad. Everyone in the group knew that Penny had ties to UNIT but she was proud of the Smith name and would never change it.

When Clyde was taken back to the base, he was lead to a set of computers. He wasn't actually lead. He had followed the other agents there, pretending to know where he was heading. As he sat down, he studied the computers. They were modern but had no visible on button. Clyde could see a card reader so produced his UNIT ID card and slipped it in. A thumb scanner then shot out.

Wow, security's tight. Clyde thought.

He scanned his thumb and the computer switched on, logged in for him. He smiled and opened a set of files titled 'Records'. He clicked on the search bar and typed in Sarah Jane's name.

There were hundreds of results. Lots were from her time travelling with the Doctor but most of them were from the time after. It seemed like Sarah Jane had stayed around UNIT and worked with them while she investigated aliens.

Then Clyde found it.

'FILE: Death report/Sarah Jane Smith'

Clyde opened it with shaking fingers. This couldn't have happened. The first thing that came up was a smiling picture of a pregnant Sarah Jane. She was looking straight at the camera, laughing as she clutched the bump that Clyde knew could only be Penny.

"In the aftermath of incident 47, Sarah Jane Smith was rushed to medical after severe wounding during an alien plane hijack in the hope of killing important UNIT officers. The injures were considered fatal at the scene and all attempts of medical treatment were made to save her unborn child. Use of Sontaran medical equipment kept Miss Smith alive for..." Clyde read out. "Just long enough for her to have her baby, Lance Corporal Penelope Carter before she passed away due to her injures."

It couldn't be true.

He had met Sarah Jane. She never died. She lived on and met him and took in Luke and... She didn't die right after Penny was born.

It couldn't be true.

Slowly, finding it hard to type because he was shaking too much, Clyde searched Incident 47. He found the report and opened it. His eyes picked out a section of text.

'Sarah Jane Smith was killed from injures sustained from a single blast to the chest. This tragedy leaves behind Jonathan Carter to care for their new born child.'

Clyde could have sworn for a few seconds the names were the other way round, that Jonathan Carter had been said to be the one who died.

At least it answered the question of who's Penny's dad was. Clyde was just about to search Jonathan Carter when he heard raised voices. He shut down the computer and peeked out of the door. He could see Penny standing with two men. One was considerably older than the other. The older one was dressed in finer clothes but was also fatter, shorter and his face was littered with wrinkles. The younger man was probably roughly forty to fifty. He was going grey at the temples but Clyde could see he was still rather handsome. He had a strong jaw, a commanding figure and still seemed to be at the peak of physical health.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Penny moaned. "You've run your stupid tests, you know he's capable of human emotion. He might as well be human."

"It's the differences that separate him from us that causes my concern." the older man said.

"Everything concerns you!"

"Sergeant Carter, control your daughter."

Clyde gasped as he realised he was staring at Penny's dad. The younger man crouched down to Penny's level and hissed to her to keep a level head. Penny glared at the older man.

"With all due respect, Major Spilburn, I was just out dealing with an alien threat. There's now a pile of green gunk on the floor of a Coldfire construction building if you are wondering. I am the youngest person ever to become a Lance Corporal and now you are telling me that I can not gauge the threat level of a boy who couldn't even read when we brought him in."

"She has got a point." Carter said.

"Prisoner 453 is a prisoner for a reason. You might pretend that he isn't but he is a weapon that was created to help destroy the planet. I am sorry but leaving him in the hands of a teenager who can barely control her own force is not the wisest option." Spilburn said.

"Then leave him in my care. You know how well I separate myself from my emotions. The moment that boy could even possibly be deemed a threat to anyone I will have him sent straight to you." Carter said.

Spilburn glared but nodded. He walked away muttering. Clyde was about to approach Penny and her father when Penny hugged her father incredibly tightly.

"Come on, kiddo, lets go home, he's safe for another night."

"I want to see him." Penny said.

"Be quick." Carter murmured and Penny nodded.

She raced off. Clyde ducked behind the door as Carter walked past. Clyde had a gut feeling that something strange had happened.

And then it all made sense.

Penny had told him that her father had been killed in a plane accident. It was before he had found out about aliens so she must have concealed the truth. Her father had been killed during that incident and now something had changed. Carter had lived and Sarah Jane had died.

Clyde needed a word with Carter, luckily he had some idea of where he would live. First however, he wanted to know what was so special about prisoner 453.

.

Penny walked into the Control Room. Maria turned to her, she was looking at a large metal door with a glass window off to one side.

"Has... Are they letting him...?" Maria asked slowly.

Maria had bonded with him over the time she had known him. They saw him as a friend, Maria more than most.

"Yes. We better tell him the good news." Penny said with a grin.

She walked forwards and knocked on the glass to get the attention of a boy. A boy moved towards her. She smiled.

"Hey, I've got some good news. Major Spilman won't be getting his grubby hands on you."

The boy nodded, turning back to their work. He then stopped and looked at Penny.

"Is she there?" the boy asked.

Penny nodded and said goodbye. The boy walked up to the glass, offering Penny a large grin.

"Goodbye, agent Carter."

"Goodbye, Archie."

Penny left, turning to Maria and nodding her forwards. Clyde crept in, looking around. Penny said goodbye to Maria and then walked out. Clyde stayed in hiding but slowly moved closer, trying to look into the glass window. He could see something. Maria was talking to the boy. The boy's name was Archie.

Clyde stood up just so he could see into the window.

He gasped, looking at the figure.

"Clyde, I can see your reflection." Maria said, turning around to face him.

Clyde barely noticed her. He looked around her and at the figure. He was shocked at the sight of them. He had had his hands in his pockets and, in shock, he withdrew them. Out of one of his pockets, the puzzle box he had been given by Penny clattered to the floor. Clyde was too shocked to have noticed.

"Luke?" Clyde murmured.

"Archie, you remember Clyde, don't you?" Maria prompted looking at the boy who Clyde knew as Luke.

The boy nodded. He was dressed in orange overalls, much like the ones worn in prison TV shows and he looked rather messy. His hair wasn't brushed but it actually made him look better, more adventurous.

"Why is he in a cell?"

"Seriously? Have you snapped?" Maria asked, sounding a bit touchy. "It's Archie, you know full why he's in a cell.

"I am what UNIT classifies as an alien weapon." Archie said. "I was created by aliens to help take over the world, amazingly, I am not even listed in the prisoner's inventory, I'm just a tool according to them."

"And they call you Archie?" Clyde said, knowing that something was really, really wrong.

Sarah Jane was dead, Penny lived with her dad, Maria worked for UNIT and Luke was a prisoner known as Archie.

"Yes. Penny nicknamed me it during the Bane incident, when she became Lance Corporal. She was one of the few UNIT agents who didn't drink the stuff and she enlisted Maria to help her."

"And I joined when?"

"During the Slitheen incursion. Penny was impressed. As Lance Corporal, she asked you to be put into her team." Archie said.

"Archie, please." Maria moaned, as if annoyed that he was giving all their secrets away.

"Sorry, Maria."

Clyde turned to Maria.

"Penny lives at thirteen Bannerman road, right? Across the street from you?"

"Yeah, why?" Maria asked.

Clyde was already gone. He knew enough to understand most of the world and now he was determined to do something about it.

.

Clyde knocked on the door to the Smith house. It would forever in his mind be the Smith house, whether it was home to Jonathan Carter or not. When he had voiced his intentions to leave the base, he had been offered lots of lifts by people who seemed to recognise him and in the end Clyde had picked one at random and had been dropped at the end of the street. He had told the driver he was going to see a friend, just in case contact out of UNIT wasn't allowed. Jonathan opened the door.

"Oh, yes, Private Langer, isn't it?" he said with a beam.

He seemed like the sort of man Sarah Jane would go for. He was polite, welcoming and friendly. He was also brave. He had to be, being so high up in the UNIT ranks.

"Yes, Clyde, call me Clyde, sir." Clyde replied, feeling the 'Sir' was appropriate.

Penny appeared behind her father, holding a mug of coffee in one hand and a biscuit in the other. She smiled when she saw Clyde and Clyde saw she had changed into jeans and t-shirt. She looked a lot more like the Penny he knew, the Penny he was meant to be dating. Clyde felt a little heart-sick.

"Hey Clyde." Penny said. "I hope you're not here to talk about what happened today."

"No, it's not about that. It's about Sarah Jane Smith."

Jonathan winced. Penny looked away and then disappeared without a word into the lounge. Jonathan looked away and when he looked back at Clyde, Clyde could see pain in his eyes.

"The mission report is on the UNIT server." Jonathan said.

"I want to hear about it from you."

"I don't want to talk about it." Jonathan said. "What happened twelve years ago has..."

"Thirteen. It happened thirteen years ago, when Penny was born. How could you forget?" Clyde asked, suddenly very alarmed.

He wanted to get Penny out of the house and to safety.

"I need to go up to the attic." Clyde said.

He pushed past Jonathan and raced up to the attic.

.

The attic Clyde saw was not the attic Clyde knew. Instead of having tables and sides covering with alien devices, there were rows of cardboard boxes, much like a warehouse. A large mirror was on the wall where Mr Smith should have been and the sofas that Clyde and the gang used to sit on and muck around on where replaced with old furniture. It looked like a storage room.

"What?" Clyde breathed.

Jonathan joined him in the attic. He was fuming. Clyde began to walk between the boxes. Some of the boxes were labelled with years, others with Penny's name and then ages. One row of boxes was labelled 'SJS'. With a sickening feeling, Clyde realised that those contained Sarah Jane's possessions, given to Jonathan when she died.

"Langer, get out of my house." Jonathan ordered.

"Mr Smith, I need you." Clyde said.

He knew it was a long shot and wasn't surprised when nothing happened. Jonathan grabbed Clyde by the arm and lead him out. Penny was standing at the stairs.

"Take your private downstairs and show him out." Jonathan growled to his daughter.

Penny nodded and lead the way down the stairs.

.

When they got to the door, Clyde noticed Penny was crying.

"Penny, what's wrong?" Clyde asked, automatically concerned.

"Why do you never think? You're such an idiot some times."

"Your dad just forgot how long ago your mother died. Doesn't that strike you as odd?"

Penny looked at Clyde and he could see in her eyes that it did. She was finding the cracks in what happened as well.

"Lets take a walk, I'll see if I can explain everything."

.

Jonathan looked around the attic. He walked forwards and opened a box dated for the year of Penny's birth. He only needed to shuffle around a few photos before he found it. A square little box, completely identical to Clyde's. He held it up and looked at it, facing the mirror. The memories came flooding back and he could remember the pain and the fear.

"Remember, Jonathan, remember." a voice whispered into his mind.

Then he remembered the choice.

Jonathan slowly flicked his gaze to the mirror and stared at it. A black robed figure was standing in the glass, almost as if it should have been a reflection, but wasn't.

"Who are you?" Jonathan asked.

Once again he was requested to remember.

"I forgot you. I forgot what I did that day. All these years, my daughter's life."

"I never forgot you." the creature said.

"The day she died, you gave me this box." Jonathan said, holding at the square box.

"My gift to you. Why are you calling me now?"

"Clyde Langer. One of Penny's Privates. All of a sudden he's been going on about Sarah Jane. He knows. He knows what I did that day and he keeps making me remember."

"He's just a child, no one will listen."

"Penny will and she'll ask even more questions. How could I bear that? How could I forget what I did?"

"Then what do you want from me?" the creature asked, looking straight at Jonathan.

Jonathan thought for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Make him forget, forget it all."

"I can't, he's protected somehow. But I can remove him."

"No, no killing." Jonathan growled.

He had seen too many deaths. He wasn't going to wish death on a boy the same age as his daughter.

"I cannot kill. But I can stop him from ruining your life. One night's sleep, and you will forget him, forget me, forget everything once more."

"Remove him to where?" Jonathan inquired.

"I need your agreement. Do I have you agreement?" the creature asked, avoiding the question.

"Yes." Jonathan said.

"However, the boy is with your daughter. I need them separated."

.

Penny's phone rang in her pocket. She was walking down the street with Clyde and stepped a few steps away to take the call. Clyde was looking in the shop windows. Suddenly, in a reflection he saw a familiar figure. It was Sarah Jane. She was begging him for help but it seemed that no one else could see her. Clyde bit his lip and begged Sarah Jane for help. Suddenly Sarah Jane was gone. Clyde watched as Penny walked over.

"My dad wants me back, I'm sorry." Penny said.

"Okay." Clyde sighed.

Penny said goodbye and turned away.

.

Archie was staring at the puzzle box on the floor. He was looking at it with curiosity.

"Can you pass me that box, Maria?" he asked.

Maria nodded, walking over to the box. The moment her skin touched it, the bond with Clyde was broken.

.

Clyde was making his way home. He was walking alone, trying to think everything through. He had got to grips with the new world but there was something at the back of his mind that he was concerned with. Suddenly a small sharp toothed alien appeared in front of him. It had long tentacles and pointed a gun at him. Clyde gasped and sprinted away.

.

Maria slid the box through a small slot. Archie looked at it and picked it up, turning it in his hands. It was beautiful and an enigma. Archie sat down and began to work on it; Maria watched him with a smile on her face. She loved watching him work.

"So, what is it?" Maria asked.

.

Clyde suddenly reached a dead end. He turned back and looked at the creature that had been chasing him. He gasped as it got closer and fired it's gun. Two almost taser like buds attached to his clothes and Clyde gasped. Suddenly both Clyde and the alien were gone.

.

Archie felt a sudden pain in his head, like something was fighting over his brain. He kept hold of the box, spinning it. Maria watched him but the pain kept happening. As suddenly as it came however, it was gone. Archie looked at Maria.

"Clyde dropped it. I think we should ask him."

"What? Who's Clyde?" Maria asked.

"The other Private. He was the last person you talked to other than me." Archie informed her.

"The last person I walked to was Penny. Archie, stop mucking around."

"I'm not mucking anything. The last person you talked to was Clyde Langer."

"Archie, there is no Clyde Langer. Clyde Langer doesn't exist." Maria told him.  
>Archie felt a pit in his stomach. This wasn't right.<p>

.

Clyde was being forced along by the alien. He was on some sort of rocky sky bridge. All he could see around him was white. He could make out distant objects but they were all white. The only things that weren't white were him, the alien and the bridge. Clyde didn't like where he was being taken. He pulled at the sensors that connected him to the alien and suddenly disappeared.

.

UNIT agents rushed around Clyde. He wasn't sure what to do. He was completely alone. His eyes settled on a plane and he realised he was in some sort of private UNIT airbase. He could see a group of people getting onto the plane and he walked towards it, looking at them all. He frowned and then his eyes widened as he reached the edge of the plane. He recognised one of the people getting on board. He rushed forwards, calling her name.

"Sarah Jane! Sarah Jane!"

Clyde slowed to a stop in front of Sarah Jane. She had his back to him but she was beginning to turn. She turned to Clyde and smiled.

"Hello. I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked.

"Sarah Jane, I..."

And that was the moment Clyde noticed the bump.

"You're pregnant."

"Yes, first child – a little girl." Sarah Jane said proudly. "Penelope."

Clyde gulped. It was nearly the moment Sarah Jane died.

* * *

><p>Hello, yes. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review.<p>

Last thing: Archie is this universe's Luke, they look exactly the same, are both as intelligent and are generally the same people only they act differently because of the way they were brought up - one in a UNIT prison, the other in a house.

198b85b4-9b92-4a3f-887d-8818514d73e2


	14. Whatever happened to Sarah Jane part 2

Clyde looked at Sarah Jane as a handsome man walked over and joined them.

"Hello, beautiful." he said. "How's junior?"

"Penelope is fine."

"No, call her Penny. I just like that name." the man said.

"We agreed on Penelope."

He turned to Clyde and Clyde recognised him as Jonathan.

"Sarah Jane, I will know you." Clyde said.

"What?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I'm from the future. I'm Penny's friend. You have a son called Luke and a daughter called Penny and..."

"I'm sorry but you are?" Jonathan asked.

"Clyde Langer." Clyde said.

Suddenly he realised how he could save them both.

"Don't get on the plane." Clyde told them.

"What?"

"Don't get on the plane. If you get on the plane then one of you will die."  
>Clyde was panicking. He needed them to listen.<p>

"I'm sorry but if I don't do this mission then the Major isn't going to let me have time off for my wedding so..."

Jonathan turned to go.

"You've got to believe me. You're putting everyone in danger. There's..."

Clyde remembered the meteorite and gasped. He needed to get them to understand.

"I shouldn't be here. There was this thing, this... Creature. It attacked me and I escaped and I found myself here and I must have ended up in the last place he came to. Because he was here so he could switch you two around and then..."

Jonathan protectively put his arm around Sarah Jane.

"This isn't good for the baby."

"Nor is getting shot. Jonathan, you are... You both need to go home. Don't worry about your wedding because there won't be a wedding if you don't go home." Clyde begged.

"Come on, Sarah Jane. The plane will be leaving soon." Jonathan said.

When the two of them turned away, the alien reappeared. Clyde gasped but didn't have time to run. He was teleported away. Sarah Jane looked back, holding her bump.

"He's gone." Sarah Jane said.  
>"He's gone mad." Jonathan replied.<p>

"Maybe we shouldn't go on. I mean it can't be good for Penny and there's always a risk..."

"Everything will be fine." Jonathan assured her. "Give it a month and we'll be a family: me, you and Penny."

They disappeared inside and the doors to the plane shut behind them.

.

Clyde reappeared standing in a world that was completely white. He scanned the area but all he could see was blindingly pure. Then he saw a speck of colour in the distance. He ran forwards and stopped.

A smile spread across his lips.

"I thought I'd never see you again!" Clyde gasped, running forwards.

Sarah Jane turned to him and smiled.

"It's so good to see you, I've been all on my own." Sarah Jane said, greeting Clyde.

"Where are we? It looks like an explosion in a fake snow factory."

"We're in limbo, a no place."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we're lost. We don't exist."

.

Archie was highly confused.

"You and Clyde talked earlier. He asked about Penny's address and... Now he's disappeared."  
>"There was no Clyde. There never has been a Clyde." Maria said.<p>

"But... He's this tall." Archie said, putting his hand to about Clyde's height. "And he makes jokes and you've known him since the Slitheens and he has a crush on Penny and he..."

"Archie, I don't know any Clydes and neither do you."

Maria's tone had become concerned. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

"Clyde was acting like this earlier. What is up with you people?"

"Clyde was acting like this?" Archie repeated.

He was beginning to piece things together in his head.

"We need to get Clyde back. I don't know why but we do."

"I don't know who this Clyde is!" Maria shouted.

She paused.

"I'm calling Penny and Sergeant Carter." Maria said.

Deep down, Archie knew that wasn't a good idea.

.

"Jonathan? He's in that world."

"Yes." Clyde answered.

"What sort of dad is he?"

"A great one, Penny absolutely adores him." Clyde answered.

"I always knew he would." Sarah Jane said, almost sadly. "It makes me think that, if he had been around, whether Penny would have been through everything she has."

"But in this parallel world, he lived and you died."  
>"It's not a parallel world, Clyde, someone has altered the time lines."<p>

"I was the only one who knew about it." Clyde said.  
>"Well, have you been into contact with any alien technology the others haven't? Have you been in contact with something for longer?"<p>

"Penny found a metal box in the attic. It was an alien puzzle box. She said she was going to give it to Luke to solve if I couldn't."

"That box. Describe it."

"It was small, fit inside a hand. The corners rotated and with was covered in swirls."

"I think I remember. It was given to me by a Verron soothsayer. He must have known this was going to happen. It linked us some how, protected you from the change."

"But I dropped in when I was at the UNIT base. I wanted to go and see Carter. Then that little alien came along and I ran. Is he what's behind this?"

"No, he's a Graske. This isn't their style. They don't alter time lines."

"Then he's working for someone."

"Or he's a slave to something much much more powerful."

Suddenly a voice called Sarah Jane's name through the whiteness. Clyde looked around but he couldn't see anyone.

"Who's that?" Clyde asked, getting nervous.

"I'm being summoned." Sarah Jane informed him. "You better stay here."

"Don't leave me on my own." Clyde tried.

He simply wanted to be in on the action.

"I'll come back." Sarah Jane assured him and then began to walk towards the source of the voice.

.

Penny walked into the room to see a very worried looking Maria.

"He's just gone insane. He keeps talking about this Clyde kid."

"Penny, you must remember him. Clyde, remember? He liked you. He really liked you." Archie tried, almost banging against the window.

Then Carter walked in.

"You must remember Clyde. Something bad is going to happen. I know it."

Archie had been looking at the two girls. He had missed the recognition in Carter's face as he remembered Clyde.

.

"I take it this is your domain." Sarah Jane said, edging slowly forwards.

A tall dark cloaked figure was standing there. He had no eyes, just two indents where they should be. He had a mouth full of old and wonky teeth and his hands were old, some of them embroidered with metal.

"Who are you?" she asked, impatiently.

"Nobody. I am nothing." the creature replied.

After a few more goes at asking, Sarah Jane realised she was not going to get a straight answer.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Chaos is my food and my air. You are the key to that chaos."

"The world still seems pretty ordered from what I hear." Sarah Jane pointed out.

The creature half smiled.

"There is a meteor heading to Earth." the creature revealed. "I must go now."

Then the creature was gone.

.

Sarah Jane walked back to Clyde.

"This it true. This there a meteorite going to slam into the Earth?"

"I'm afraid so." Sarah Jane said, feeling completely helpless.

.

"Penny, maybe you should take Maria to the infirmary." Carter said, looking at Archie.

Archie felt nervous. He backed away from the glass.

"I think I'll be fine." Maria said, noticing how nervous Archie had become.  
>"Penny, take her there now!" Carter shouted.<p>

Penny winced. She looked at her father.

"Why don't you? I could help Archie. I could help him."

"Penny, Maria, go now." Carter growled.

Penny looked at Archie and then moved away with a nod. She took Maria with her.

"He's going to hurt Archie."

"He's my dad, Maria. I won't let him."

Carter turned back to Archie. He smiled and walked towards. He opened the door and dragged Archie out. Archie slipped the box into his pocket, hiding it from Carter.

"Who is Clyde?" Carter asked.

"He was a private here. He's gone. Where is he?"

"Clyde never existed."

"But he did. He knew something was wrong. It has something to do with this box." Archie said.

He pulled the box out of his pocket and held it out. Carter looked at the box.

"Where did you get that?" Carter asked.

"Clyde had it. It must have protected him. Just like it protected me."

"I was going to sleep. If this was tomorrow I wouldn't even remember that boy. Something happened. If you know what, then you need to tell me?"

"You'd never believe me."

"Try me." Archie instructed.

"It was thirteen years ago." Carter said. "Sarah Jane was pregnant and we were engaged. We had one more mission before Sarah Jane and me would take a holiday for Penny to be born and we could get married. One more month and we would have been a family."

.

Thirteen years ago

Sarah Jane slowly lowered herself into her seat on the plane.

"She's kicking again."

"Active little thing. I'm going to have to teach her football." Carter smiled, sitting down beside his fiancée.

.

"We were meant to be there to protect the people on the plane. That's all we were there for." Carter said with tears in his eyes. "The plane was attacked."

.

Thirteen years ago

Sarah Jane was standing at the back of the plane, holding her stomach.

"Give it a little while and you'll be able to kick as much as you want." Sarah Jane told the bump.

Carter got up to move towards Sarah Jane. Suddenly three creatures teleported into the plane. Carter turned and looked at them.

He moved forwards and glared.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, pulling out his gun.

He levelled it at the aliens. Suddenly a blast hit him. Carter fell to the ground. He heard a scream echoing through the air.

.

"And then there was this voice." Carter said, holding Archie as he struggled.

.

"Jonathan Carter, you don't have to die." a voice said in Carter's head. "Someone has to die but it doesn't have to be you. You could watch your daughter grow up. You only have to agree."

Sarah Jane ran towards Jonathan, picking him up and trying to comfort him.

"Yes!" Jonathan hissed.

All he wanted was to see his daughter live, to have his family.

Suddenly Jonathan was standing up. He looked around to see who was on the ground, who he had swapped placed with.  
>"Sarah Jane!" Carter screamed.<p>

.

"They tried to save her. They did everything they could. They could only save Penny." Carter said.

"Then the creature, the Trickster, gave me this box."

Carter pulled a box out of his pocket. It was identical to the box that Archie had.

"Now I am so sorry but I need to save Penny and..." Carter said.

He took the box from Archie and threw it away. He released the boy.

"I agree." Carter said, turning to the Trickster who was standing in the glass.

The Graske suddenly appeared. Archie stared at it for a few seconds and then ran out. Carter watched the boy go and then decided to go home. He needed a rest.

.

Archie thundered down the corridor. Suddenly he felt a hand clamp on his shoulder and he was pulled into a dark corner. The Grakse raced by, turning a corner in his chase for the missing Archie.

Archie turned back and looked at his saviours. Penny and Maria stood there.

"We need some answers." Maria said.

"But not here." Penny added. "There, that lab should be empty."

She pointed at a room a little down the corridor. They crept out and then inside.

.

Archie told them everything he knew. They were standing in a lab full of computers and other technology but everything was being ignored. The main focus was Archie.

"Do you believe me?" he asked anxiously.

Penny and Maria shot each other nervous glances and then nodded. Archie sighed.

"So this Clyde kid has stopped existing because he asked too many questions?" Penny said.

She was taking this very well for someone who found out that her father had made a deal with an alien creature so her mother, who was pregnant with her at the time, died in his place. She hadn't shouted or screamed or done anything. She had simply calmly taken it all in.

Archie nodded.

"So what now? What does this Trickster want?"

"I don't know." Archie said.

"Maybe to invade?" Maria asked.

"I'll run a scan of the space around Earth." Penny said, getting up.

She began the scan on one of the computers. Nothing came up apart from a large circular object.

"What's that?" Maria asked.

"That's a meteor, meteor K67."

She pressed a few more buttons on the keyboard.

"No, that can't be right."

She repeated the process and then froze. The computer had come up with the same thing.

"But that means..."

"K67 is going to crash into Earth." Archie said, understand it before Maria.

"What do we do?" Maria asked, panicked.

Penny took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This was her job. She had to take control.

"Archie, use that big brain of yours to think of a way to fling that meteor back into space. Private Maria, you come with me. We'll catch that little alien and see what he has to stay for himself."

Maria nodded. Penny walked slowly over to Archie and looked straight at him.

"No matter if we stop existing, you keep working."

"How will I know if you stop existing?"

"You'll probably be dead, given the amount of times we've had to stop UNIT from experimenting on you but..." Penny trailed off.  
>She turned to Maria.<p>

"We need to find that alien."

.

The two girls walked out into the corridor. They looked around.

"What happens if Archie can't make something?" Maria asked.

They both knew what would happen, neither of them wanted to say it.

"Where do you think our little guest is going to be?"

Suddenly a small alien ran past the two girls, growling at them. Penny smiled and began to give chase. Maria watched Penny being to chase after the alien and then shook her head. For a UNIT officer, Penny could be rather childish when she wanted to be. Maria then began to give chase.

.

Archie was working on the program he had created when Penny and Maria walked in. Maria was holding the Graske as he struggled while Penny was holding the gun he had.

"What is it?" Archie asked.

"I don't know." Penny answered.

"He's tough." Maria said. "How's the program going?"

Archie smiled, proud of his work.

"This program should fire a magnetic pulse out and bounce the meteor back into space." Archie announced. "I just need to add the finishing touches."

"Okay, we'll work on getting this alien to talk." Penny said.

"See if you can get Clyde back." Archie requested.

Both of the girls nodded, not even sure if there was a Clyde or not.

"You heard the boy, tell us how to get this Clyde kid back." Penny ordered.

"Let me go." the alien snapped back.

Penny sighed and produced her own gun. Archie gasped. Something about Penny with a gun didn't sit right with him.

"Tell me how to get him back." she growled.

"The snare should retrieve him." the Graske said.

Penny smiled and slid her gun away. She looked at the snare and then fired the device.

.

Sarah Jane watched in horror as Clyde disappeared.

"No!" she cried.

.

Penny and Maria watched as Clyde appeared next to them. They suddenly could remember him.

"See, I was right." Archie said.

"You always are, Luke."

"My name's Archie." Archie corrected.

Clyde smiled and pulled Penny into a hug. It was more instinctive than planned but he was grateful when Penny hugged back.

"So what are we doing now?" he asked, looking at all three of them.

"We're going to try and work out how much of your story is true." Penny said. "But first, let's send that meteor back into space."

"You guys have been working on the meteor?" Clyde gasped.

He smiled at the idea that the Trickster's plan was coming apart simply because his three friends were so amazing.

Archie smiled and began to run his program. Nothing happened.

"What's wrong?" Penny asked, turning to Archie.

"We don't have the processing power here. I can't do it. I'm sorry. I've failed."  
>"Archie, it's not your fault." Penny said.<p>

Maria let the news settle in. She whipped out her phone and began to call up her dad. It went to answer phone.

"What are we going to do?" Clyde asked. "What does Luk- Archie need? We could find it and..."

"I need a super computer with massive processing power." Archie said, hopelessly. "UNIT doesn't have one of them."

"But I know someone who does. We just need to get her back." Clyde said.

Mr Smith fit the bill completely. Clyde just needed to find out how to return the alien computer to it's rightful place.

"How did you get me back?"

"Using the snare." Penny said.

"Okay." Clyde said, picking up the snare and firing it.

Nothing happened.

"Why isn't she here?"

Penny turned to the Graske who was standing in the room, almost completely forgotten. He would have run if he hadn't of found watching the teenagers struggle so entertaining.

"How do you get his friend back?"

"She's your mother." Clyde said slowly.

That caused Penny to falter. She looked at Clyde with wide eyes and gasped.

"My mother." she murmured.

"We don't have time for this." Clyde informed her. "How do we get Sarah Jane back?"

"She can't return when Carter is still there." the Graske said.

"Maria, lock him in a store room. Me, Archie and Clyde will get over to my house." Penny said.

Maria nodded and the others left. When she turned back to the Graske. It had teleported away.

.

Penny found the spare key and the group rushed into the attic. Clyde watched as Penny glared at her dad and then at a woman in the mirror.

"Is that my mum?" Penny murmured.

Clyde nodded, silently. Carter was staring at the reflection, tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Sarah Jane?" he murmured.

"Oh, Johnny." Sarah Jane said.

Carter moved towards the mirror. Penny watched from behind.

"What have you done?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I did it so I could be there for you, so we could be a family." Jonathan said. "It went wrong. I was tricked."

"Then why didn't you go back on it?" Sarah Jane asked.

Jonathan glanced behind him at Penny. His eyes were wide and tear stained. Sarah Jane completely understood.

"Why?" Clyde demanded.

"What would have happened if the Trickster had changed the deal? I could have lost Penny and still been able to remember the thirteen years I had with her."

"Penny doesn't die, Johnny." Sarah Jane assured him. "She lives the best life I can give her."

"And she enjoys it. She really does." Clyde added.

"But I never see my daughter growing up. I never get to read her a bed time story or call her beautiful or..."

"I am so sorry." Sarah Jane said, shedding a tear. "But what happened that day made me realise how much family means. It made me realise what was on the line. I understood the worth of family and I assure you that Penny is my whole world."

"Well, Penny and Luke."

"What?"

"Archie, she adopts him, he becomes Luke." Clyde added.

"But why do things need to change? Why can't they just stay the same, with you living in the mirror and seeing Penny and me looking after her and..."

"There's a meteorite. These thirteen years, that's all this has been about, getting a meteor to crash into Earth."

"We have a way to stop it but... We need Sarah Jane." Clyde said.

Jonathan turned and suddenly there was a black hooded figure standing near the three teenagers. They all looked at it and jumped, rushing away.

"Jonathan Carter, they want to kill you again. Remember your bargain to me."

"I made a deal to protect my family and my family won't be safe if you destroy the Earth."

"The chaos is good." the Trickster promised.

Carter shook his head. He turned to his daughter and cupped her face in his hand. A tear was trickling down Penny's cheek and he brushed it away.

"Be good for your mother, okay?" he said.

Penny nodded silently and Jonathan kissed her forehead.

He turned back to Sarah Jane.  
>"I love you, Sarah Jane."<p>

Then he turned back to the Trickster. He glared at the creature.

"I'm going back on my deal."

"Then you will die."

"I'd rather Sarah Jane live than me." Jonathan declared and threw the box at mirror.

.

Sarah Jane looked down at Jonathan as he lay on the floor, dying.

"Can we get a medic over here?" she screamed as the aliens were driven back.

Jonathan looked at Sarah Jane and then at the bump that would one day be his daughter. He remember the two of them, the way he had looked after Penny and see her as she grew up, the way he had seen Sarah Jane in the mirror.

"Remember me." he murmured and then his eyes closed for the last time.

.

The gang, including Maria, all landed on the floor of the attic with a bump. They turned to Sarah Jane and then to Luke and Clyde.

"The meteor." Luke murmured, getting up.  
>"Can you remember the program?" Clyde asked, racing forwards with Luke.<p>

Luke's fingers flew over Mr Smith's console, racing over the keys.  
>"Stupid question." Clyde said as Luke finished.<p>

Mr Smith accepted the program.

"Run it." Clyde ordered.

Penny and Maria rushed over to the window and looked out. They watched as a massive lump of space rock was sent flying out into space.

"We did it!" Maria cheered.

Suddenly their celebrations fell flat. They noticed Sarah Jane standing at the back of the attic with tears in her eyes.

"Perhaps you should go." Penny told Maria and Clyde. "We'll go over this later."

Maria and Clyde nodded, leaving.  
>"He gave his life to save us." Sarah Jane murmured.<p>

Instead of saying anything, Penny forced a hug onto her mother. She two had tears rolling down her cheeks. Luke found himself joining in the hug.

"There's somewhere we need to go." Sarah Jane said.

.

The Smith's all stood in the graveyard. They all looked down at the grave. Penny placed a few wild flowers on it and kissed her fingers stroking them against the grass that grew over her father's grave. She then backed away and pulled into her mother's embrace.

"Penny, go and wait in the car." Sarah Jane said.

Penny nodded and slowly walked away. She was about to send Luke away when he walked up to her.

"His middle name." Luke said slowly. "And my middle name... It's just... It's a nice way to remember him." Luke said.

Then, they began to walk away.

A few seconds later, Luke glanced back at the grave of Jonathan Luke Carter and remembered his own birth certificate. His full name was Luke Jonathan Smith.


	15. Zygon

Luke dived and still the ball rolled past him.

"GOAL!" Penny cheered, running around the pitch that took up a large part of the field near the park.

It was just the two of them, doing what Penny had loving referred to as sibling bonding. Luke had not wanted to play football but, after an hour of attempting to teach Penny university level mathematics, Luke had been forced to do something that let his sister give off steam.

Luke pulled the ball from the back of the tatty net and placed it at the end of the box, getting ready to kick it. He swung his leg back. His leg hit nothing. Penny looked away so Luke couldn't see that she was fighting not to laugh.

"Okay, Luke, lets try this." Penny said.

She walked towards and picked up the ball. She placed it in front of her a few metres away from Luke and then gently tapped the ball with the side of her foot. It rolled for a little bit and then came to stop.

"Do you know why I did that?" Penny asked.

"The side of your foot has a bigger surface area so would increase the probability of you hitting it."

"Correct. So I'll kick the ball to you, you stop it and then kick it back to me like I showed you."

Luke watched as the ball came towards him rather slowly. He put his foot at an angle to the ball and swung back. He swung forwards too hard and too early and his momentum carried him forwards. He hit the dirt behind him with a yelp.

Penny raced over.

"Luke, you okay?" she asked, offering him a hand.

"Yeah." Luke said, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

Penny nodded and chased after the ball, leaving Luke standing in the centre of the pitch by himself. He wasn't very good at football and that annoyed him. Maria didn't like football but, if needed to, she could join in a game. Penny and Clyde were great. Clyde would never admit it but Penny was better. Given a bit of encouragement from Maria, Penny had joined the girl's football team (Maria had written Penny's name down on the sign up sheet). Penny was favourite to be made the next captain.

Luke had also noticed a link between sports and being popular. If you could play sports well you were pick for teams or asked to join in games and that got you friends. Luke couldn't play sports and the school's science team wasn't really the most popular club. Luke was grateful that Penny was trying to teach him sports but it seemed like he would never get the hang of it.

Penny stopped at the ball and picked it up. She felt sorry for Luke. Evidently the Bane hadn't thought that sports skills were important in their Archetype. Luke could run, seriously, he was definitely faster than Clyde and Maria and, on a good day, him and Penny were evenly matched with the bets going in Luke's favour. That was really all though. Penny had considered signing Luke up for the dodge-ball team. Given his ability to keep missing the ball in goal, she was beginning to think he just simply repelled any sort of sports ball.

Penny's phone suddenly rung.

Penny fished into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She didn't need to glance at the screen before knowing who it was. Maria was visiting her mum. Sarah Jane was making an attempt to tidy the house while her and Luke were out. Clyde was at home because his mum had caught a bug and someone needed to cook, which, evidently, Clyde was very good at.

"Hey, Clyde." Penny smiled.

"How is training the next Beckham going?"

"Hasn't hit the ball once and spends more time on the ground then standing up. " Penny pointed out.

"Sounds like you're training the next England star." Clyde joked.

"We're making progress. He didn't run out of goal last time."

"How did it go? Explaining that he had to stand there while you kicked a ball at him." Clyde laughed.

"He said I would be arrested for violating his humans rights, grounded for being mean and told off by Maria."

Penny began to walk back to Luke, still on the phone. Luke registered this with a frown.

"Luke's football skills aren't why I called up. I was wondering if you were free tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"Because there's this sci-fi thriller on at the cinema and Finney said it was really good so I thought we could check it out and..."

"I think I'm free. I'll have to check with mum and convince her that Luke doesn't need to come but..."

"Great. I also need to show you a new drawing I've done and..."

"How about we go to your house after the cinema and I can try some of the legendary Clyde Langer cooking?"

"My mum might still be ill."

"Then you can come round mine and cook. If me and Luke are going to live long and fruitful lives someone needs to teach mum to do it." Penny smirked.

"Okay, we've gotta deal." Clyde said over the phone. "Got to go. Mum wants some soup. See you around."

"Yeah, tomorrow, the cinema."

"Film starts at three."

Penny listened for Clyde to hang up before she slipped her phone into her pocket. She turned to Luke who studied her for a moment.

"How is Clyde?" he asked, knowing who his sister would have been on the phone to.

"He's fine."

"You two are going out again." Luke said.

It was a statement, not a question. Luke knew it was true. He knew what always happened, Penny went out with Clyde, telling mum a time she would be back and then Penny and Clyde would come back late, apologise and spend about the next hour in the attic, acting exactly like they had before they had begun to go out.

"What's wrong with that?" Penny asked.

"Clyde's my best friend."

"He's my boyfriend." Penny said.  
>"And you're my sister."<p>

"I don't really have anyone to talk to when you two are on dates."  
>"What about Maria?"<p>

"She always acts weirdly." Luke answered, screwing up his nose.

Penny smiled. She knew about Maria's crush on Luke. She also knew about Luke feeling the same way about Maria, just not understanding how to express it or how Maria expressed it.

"And you get lonely."

"I don't understand what you and Clyde feel."

"Only you do." Penny answered, absent mindedly beginning to do keepy-uppys off her knees and head.

Luke looked at his sister quizzically.

"Think about all the feelings you have towards Maria." Penny requested. "Then imagine that Maria felt them towards you. Then imagine that the two of you were brave enough to tell the other and begin to do something about how you feel."

"Is that what it's like for you and Clyde?" Luke asked.  
>"I think it's close." Penny smiled back, looking extremely content.<p>

"No wonder you want to spend so much time with him."

"I'm always going to have time for you, Luke. I might not be able to understand Physics or Maths the way you can but I'm always going to be your sister."

There was a pause as the two kids smiled at each other happily. Luke hadn't know why Penny dating Clyde had been upsetting him but he guessed Penny was right. He felt he was losing his sister despite have only really been there for her for a few months.

"I keep forgetting how old you really are." Penny said. "That's the curse of you being so clever. It ages you."

"I don't see how that's a bad thing."

Penny caught the ball in mid air and rolled it towards her brother.

"Come on, Luke. This time." Penny encouraged.

Luke missed but didn't fall over that time. When he went to get the ball, Penny noticed a group of three boys from the boy's football team walking over.

Oh man. She thought. They're going to upset Luke.

Penny bit her lip, trying to think of a way of getting them to leave them alone.

"Hey, you're Penny Smith, right?" one of them said.

His face was laced with spots and scabs. He had weasel like eyes and a pinched nose.

"That's me. What's it to you?" Penny asked defensively.

She hadn't really talked to any of them but she recognised trouble and was sure she had heard at least two of them making fun of Luke.

"Congratulations on getting onto the girl's football team."

"Yeah, you've finally realised that the world isn't full of creatures." one of the boys said.

Once, when Penny had just started high school, an alien had tried to grab her. She had tried to warn the school about the danger but no one had believed her. Luke wasn't the only Smith who had been through bullying when they had first joined high school.

"Leave it out." Penny hissed.

"We're just happy for you." one of the guys said. "Is that your brother?" he asked, looking at Luke as he approached.

"Yeah." Penny answered with a threatening tone. "We're playing a match."

"Can we join?"

"No." Penny said firmly. "In fact, I think you should go."

When the boys didn't go, Penny repeated it.

"Okay, lets leave the alien and the nerd to play." the group's spotty leader said.

Penny watched him and his friends walk away. She turned to Luke and looked at his facial expression.

"Did you hear what he said?" Penny asked.

Luke nodded. His senses were better than the average human's. He had heard most of it.

"Ignore them. They're just jealous."

Luke, however, didn't want to ignore them. He put the football down and worked out the exact measurements to make sure he could hit the leader of the group. He was angry. No one talked about him or his sister in that way. Luke kicked the ball and watched proudly as it sailed through the air. Penny congratulated him.

Her smile faded as the ball went into a dense patch of trees on the edge of the park.

"At least you kicked it." Penny said, walking towards the trees to get the ball back.

.

Half an hour later, Luke had decided they were never going to find the ball. The patch of trees was rather big and it was getting dark.

"Why don't we just go home?" Luke asked.

"No. I need to find that ball."

"Why?"

"Because it's important." Penny said, sounding annoyed.

Luke couldn't understand why a tatty old football could be so important. It looked like she had had it for about ten years. It was covered in random swiggles and the bits of material had been fixed so many times.

"Why is it important?"

"Because it was a gift from the Doctor!" Penny shouted back. "A gift that he gave me when I was four and it's one of the few things I have from him because aliens keep breaking them."

Luke sighed. He could understand it. Clyde had given him a souvenir from his holiday a month ago and Luke had dropped it. He had rushed around to get it fixed because it felt special.

"You wanted me to learn football using the gift from the Doctor."

"I learnt football from Captain Jack using that ball. Even the Brig taught me a bit."  
>"And the swiggles."<p>

"Alien writing." Penny said, turning around to face Luke. "Ancient writing from the planet Sto that pretty much says how I'm really really special to him. He also calls me his God-daughter."

"That's sweet." Luke said, slowly.

He scanned the tree line and decided that they could probably look for another half an hour before they needed to go home.

"It must be good to have someone looking out for you like the Doctor."

"You have got people looking out for you. There's Maria, Clyde, mum and me. We're not going to let anything happen to you."

"You'll always be there for me."

"Yeah, Luke. You're my brother. Once the Doctor meets you..."

There was a noise. Penny stopped and looked around. Luke glanced around as well.

"There's something out there." Penny whispered.

Suddenly a creature walked out of the trees, appearing in front of them. It was tall and fat with large ridges down the back.

"Luke, I think that's a Zygon." Penny said, backing away. "We need to run."

"Why?"

"We were just talking about the Doctor and they've fought the Doctor and... Don't let them touch you."

"Okay. Are we going to run?"

"What else?" Penny asked, turning tail and breaking into a run.

Luke joined her.

"We're going to need help."

.

Sarah Jane was hovering the lounge when her phone went off. She didn't hear it over the noise of the vacuum and the phone soon stopped ringing.

.

Clyde was busy in the kitchen. His phone had been abandoned in the lounge. He didn't hear it as he worked. Finally the phone stopped.

.

Alan Jackson walked into Maria's room, hearing a phone ringing. He looked at Maria's phone and sighed.

Trust Maria to leave her phone behind while she goes away for a while. Alan thought, picking up the phone.

Absent-mindedly, he picked up a bag of sweets that Maria had nearby her phone and put them in his pocket.

It was Penny calling. Alan answered it. He was about to tell her that Maria wasn't there when she began to speak too quickly for him to protest.

"Maria, no time. Come to the park. Me and Luke are being chased by Zygons, get mum!" Penny rushed.

"What? What on Earth are Zygons?"

"LUKE!" Penny screamed.

Alan suddenly felt his heart rate quicken. He looked around and then rushed out of the house.

.

"Sarah Jane! Sarah Jane!" Alan said, hammering on the door.

Sarah Jane opened the door, looking rather exasperated.

"What's wrong?"

"Penny just called Maria's phone and she answered it and said that her and Luke were being chased by Zygons and told me to get you."

"Oh no." Sarah Jane said.

.

"What are they going to do to us?" Luke asked, knowing that his sister was familiar to them.  
>"Mum fought them once." Penny answered.<p>

"So, should we be worried?" Luke asked as they were forced into a spaceship that seemed to be buried underground.

"They need us alive if they want a body print. That's copying us."

"Okay." Luke said, a smile crossing his face.

He was still in pain from the stinging touch that he had gotten from the Zygons when they had been captured.

"Hello." Penny said, turning to a large, grand looking Zygon who walked towards them.

"Who are you?"

"Penny Smith of UNIT, the God-daughter of the Doctor and daughter of Sarah Jane Smith, who, if I remember correctly defeated your warlord Boton."

"Broton!" the lead Zygon barked. "And the boy?"

"She said he was her brother." one of the Zygons answered.

"Yeah, Luke Smith of the Bane citadel, a defeater of the Trickster and son of Sarah Jane Smith, who I'm guessing you remember."

Luke just threw a string of grand terms together, hoping it would sound frightening.

The Zygons turned to each other and began to discuss what they were going to do with the Smith children.

"We have enough personally quirks." Penny assured her brother.

.

Sarah Jane looked around the park. Alan joined her and his eyes darted around.

"Where are they?" Alan asked. "And what are Zygons? I want an explanation."

"They're aliens." Sarah Jane answered.

"Like in the films?" Alan exclaimed.

Sarah Jane didn't have time. She needed to find her children.

"Mum?" a voice behind Sarah Jane said. "What are you doing here?"

Sarah Jane turned around looked at Penny standing there holding her football in her hands.

"You called up Maria about a group of Zygons, Alan got the call and thought you needed help."

"It was a joke." Penny told Sarah Jane with a smile.

She turned around and looked at the football pitch. Luke was standing there, looking a little bit impatient. Penny smiled and drop kicked the football. Luke leapt into the air and made the ball hit his chest, letting it fall at his feet. A smile spread across his face as he began to pointlessly dribble the ball about.

Penny sprinted back to her brother and the two began to play a game of football. Penny and Luke were matched perfectly.

"Something is not right here." Sarah Jane said, watching the two. "Since when was Luke so good at football?"

Alan looked at her madly.

"One minute you're talking about these Zygon alien things and then next your talking about football." Alan said slowly.

He looked at Luke and Penny.

"Those aren't Luke and Penny." Alan said, slowly.

"What?"

"Like all those conspiracy theories, aliens replacing people with fakes."

"Oh, no." Sarah Jane said. "We need to find the real Luke and Penny."

.

They hurried into the woods, leaving the fake children to continue their game of football. Sarah Jane was leading the way. She didn't want to answer Alan's questions. It wasn't the time or the place and it would sound better if it came from Maria.

"Your kids have been abducted by aliens." Alan managed.

"Yes." Sarah Jane said. "It happens a lot. Just be quiet and help me get them back."

"And replaced with fakes?"

"Yes."

"Are they um...?" Alan asked. "Is there a possibility that those Zygon things have killed them?"

"Not if they have copies. They need to keep the people they copy alive so they can constantly update them."

"So they're alive?"

"Yes."

"And...?"

"Can you stop asking questions?" Sarah Jane snapped.

Alan paused for a few seconds.

"Does Maria do this when she with you?" Alan murmured slowly, grabbing Sarah Jane's arm.

Sarah Jane turned to look at him and stared at his hand. She didn't want to look him in the eye. Slowly she did.

"Yes. Maria helps me."

"She shouldn't be doing this." Alan said. "You must know this better than most but, if the world of aliens is real, this isn't a world for kids."

Suddenly Sarah Jane stopped. She looked and Alan saw a well hidden metal panel. He reached down and put his hands against it.

"It's a manhole." he said.

"It's been made to look like a manhole." Sarah Jane pointed out, reaching down and turning it. "Come on. We need to find Penny and Luke."

.

Sarah Jane looked around with a frown. The spaceship looked old an it had clearly crashed. She shivered. The Zygons were never good news.

Alan was shocked behind her.

"Perhaps you should go and keep an eye on the fakes." Sarah Jane said, knowing who dangerous it could be.

Alan shook his head. He knew they needed to get the real children back and that, when he did, he might get some answers.

"No, I'm staying." Alan said with a determined nod of the head.

Suddenly a Zygon walked out from the shadows. Alan fell silent. He wanted to turn and run but he also had decided he wasn't going to.

"Miss Smith, we thought you would have been forced down here."

"I decided to drop in." Sarah Jane said calmly.

Then her voice took a threatening voice.

"Where are my children?" she asked.

"Your children?" the Zygon asked. "Aren't they on the surface playing football?"

"No." Sarah Jane said. "Because you made the mistake of having them both play football and Luke can't."

Sarah Jane knew it was harsh but Luke simply couldn't play it. However there was things that Luke could do that Penny could never dream of being able to do.

Alan could barely make sense of everything that was happening.

"So what will you do?"

"Call Penny's god-father." Sarah Jane said, getting out her phone. "I'm guessing you know about him."

"The Doctor. How often does he visit?" the Zygon asked.

Sarah Jane looked at Alan and then sent Maria's phone a text. Alan answered it and frowned.

'Find my kids'

Alan began to sneak away. Sarah Jane continued to distract the Zygon.

Alan walked down the corridors with a frown. He wasn't sure what to do. Then he heard footsteps coming towards him. He ducked behind a wall and hid. A pack of Zygons walked past. He watched them go and then walked out.

.

"How are the children?" a Zygon said, looking at the two children who was sealed in gel like cocoons.

They looked like they were sleeping.

"Their vitals are holding steady. It is good. The boy is producing strange readings but it doesn't matter."

Alan crept in and gasped as he looked at them. He managed to keep his horror under control. He needed to get them to leave the children alone so he could free them.

He cupped his hands around his his mouth and called out.

"The Doctor is here!"

He had no idea who the Doctor was but he seemed important.

The two Zygons looked at each other and then smiled. They hurried off to go and deal with the Doctor. Alan waited until they were gone and darted up to the controls.

"Oh man." he breathed.

He studied the controls. They were alien to him. He pressed a button. Nothing happened.

He looked at the two cocoons and then pressed another button. The cocoon around Luke began to melt away.

Gasping for breath, Luke threw himself forwards and looked around. He was dripping wet with a form of alien gunk.

"Whoa." Alan breathed.

"Penny?" Luke murmured, looking around.

His eyes settled on Alan.

"Penny called Maria." he said slowly.

Alan nodded, realising how quickly Luke had worked it out. He walked over and helped Luke out of the machine. Luke looked around and then smiled.

"We need to get Penny out of there." Luke said.

"Who is this Doctor guy everyone is after?"

"An alien who saves planets and fights creatures and runs an awful lot."

"So he's like you."

"I'm not an alien." Luke said defensively. "Just because I wasn't born does not make me an alien."

"You weren't born!"

"Yes. I wasn't born. I was grown." Luke said plainly, walking over to the control panel.

He pressed a button on the controls and smiled as the cocoon around Penny began to melt.

Penny sat up, took a deep breath and looked around.

"Oh man." she murmured when she saw Alan. "I think we should stop worrying about the Zygons, Luke, mum is going to kill us."

"I think we should still worry about the Zygons." Luke said.

Penny brushed her gunky hair back and walked over to Luke past a rather shell-shocked Alan.

"Oh, look, they were scanning us. That's good for us."

"Why?"

"Because you have really confused their systems." Penny said. "And we can use that to our advantage."

"How?"

.

Sarah Jane was beginning to worry that Alan would never find her children. Suddenly Alan and Penny walked out.

"Hey, mum." Penny said, running into her mother's arms.

"Where's Luke?" Sarah Jane whispered into her daughter's ear.

"Just play along with what happens next." Penny instructed.

Luke walked out. His hair was spiked with alien gloop and he had a cocky smile on his lips. He scanned the room and then walked straight up to the computers.

"Hello."

"Hello." the Zygons said.

"I'm the Doctor."

"You're not the Doctor." one of the Zygons said.

"And what makes you think that?"

"You told us you were Luke Smith."

"I told you that so you didn't kill my god-daughter. I mean it's obvious when you think about it."

Alan moved towards Penny and Sarah Jane.

"We need to get ready to run when you get the signal."

"What will the signal be?" Sarah Jane asked.

"It'll be obvious." Penny smirked.

Luke began to dance around the room, acting the same way he had heard the Doctor did. Alan watched him strangely.

He walked over to the controls and began to beat against them.

"I don't believe that he is the Doctor." one of the creatures said. "You're too young."

"He regenerated." Penny smirked.

She turned to Alan and asked him if he anything they could eat while they watched. He patted his pockets and felt a paper bag. He fished it out and looked inside.

Seeing Maria's sweets, he handed them to Penny. Since he was still deciding if he was going to ground Maria, he decided that he was going to at least clear their house of sweets.

Penny looked into the bag and her eyes lit up. She fished into the bag and produced a jelly baby.

"Would you like a jelly baby?" Penny asked, offering the bag to Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane smirked and called Luke over, addressing him as Doctor. She handed him the bag and whispered into his ear that he should offer them around.

"Would you like a jelly baby?" Luke asked, politely.

"Okay. He's the Doctor."

The two Zygons who had been pretending to be Penny and Luke raced in. Penny frowned. Luke gave Penny the bag of jelly babies and he pressed a button. An alarm went off.  
>"What did you do?" Alan shouted.<p>

"Wasn't that the signal?" Luke asked, beginning to run.

.

They stood outside and closed the hatch.

"So, Luke, what did you do?"

"I overloaded their computer systems and their ship has gone into lock down."

"Is that why you wanted us out so quickly?" Penny asked.

"Yeah."

Penny put a handful of jelly babies into her mouth.

"So what did the Zygons want?"

"I don't know. I'm guessing the Doctor." Sarah Jane answered.

"And they didn't want our mini Doctor? Now that's just mean."

"How can you be so relaxed?" a very flustered Alan asked.

Then they all realised that Alan was still there. Sarah Jane told Penny and Luke that they should go and continue their game of football. Explaining everything to Alan was going to be a long process.

"Where do you want to start?"

198b85b4-9b92-4a3f-887d-8818514d73e2


	16. The lost boy part 1

**I've published this chapter to celebrate the beginning of my summer holidays. YAY!**

Sarah Jane, Penny and Luke were sitting in the attic, watching the night sky through the telescope. They were at peace. Sarah Jane was trying to point out a certain spot to her son while Penny simply watched with a smile on her face.

"Just below Belatrix, on Orion's shoulder. Do you see? That's where they'll come." Sarah Jane said.

Luke nodded and adjusted the focus on the telescope. Then Maria rushed in. She made so much noise coming in that all the Smiths turned to face her.

"Sarah Jane! Dad says we're moving. He says I can't have anything to do with you any more. He says it's too dangerous." Maria whimpered, looking at the group.

"Well, it is dangerous." Luke said.  
>"That's not the point." Penny replied.<p>

"No parent wants to see their child in danger." Sarah Jane said with a protective glance at Penny and Luke.  
>She dreaded to think what would happen if she lost her children, especially to alien creatures.<p>

"I know your father has a lot more to worry about than most dads. You can't blame him for wanting to keep you safe."

"But you could talk to him..." Maria tried.

"What would I say?"

"Tell him about the magic, how wonderful it is, the universe."

Alan had appeared silently in the doorway and had been watching the scene. He hated to see his daughter so upset but he would hate to see her dead even more.

"Perhaps it is. But you said so yourself, it's not all sparkling stars and moonlight." he pointed out.

"Yeah, well, sometimes things from space are evil and scary but how's that so different from here on Earth? And sometimes things from space are amazing and beautiful and you realise how incredible it all is. We're part of something so much bigger than living on Bannerman Road. Life is so much more than most people will ever know. And I've been really lucky, dad. I've seen that and I can't give it up." Maria murmured.

"This is too much to take in."

"That's the universe, Alan. Once it's chosen to show you its secrets, you can't turn your back. None of us can." Sarah Jane said, taking Maria's hands.

"No, I suppose not. I've got a lot to get used to, haven't I?" Alan said.

Maria offered her father a relieved smile and hugged him. Then there was a bleeping from Sarah Jane's watch.

"The Kalazian lights are about to appear!" Penny said and Sarah Jane herded Maria over to the telescope.

Slightly confused, Alan followed. A set of lights began to dance across the night sky and the group smiled.

"The last time they were visible from Earth was 4000 years ago. The universe is smiling on us tonight." Sarah Jane revealed.

"Let's hope it always does." Alan said, caught up in the beauty.

.

As much as Sarah Jane loved her children, they both possessed two major flaws. Both were extremely messy and they also would switch on the telly only to do something else. That particular day Luke was reading a book and Penny was doing homework while a press conference was on the background. Sarah Jane walked in and picked up the remote about to turn it off when she found herself wondering what it was about. Two people, a man and a woman, were sitting at the front, looking devastated. It was clearly some sort of crime, simply from the police presence.

"It's been five months since we last saw Ashley but we pray every night that he's out there somewhere, unharmed and that he'll come back to us soon." the man said.

His cheeks were stained with tear tracks and he was clutching the hands of his wife as if she was going to disappear if he let go.

"If you're out there, Ashley, just call your mum and dad. Please." the woman sobbed.

At the bottom of the screen, it said their names were Jay and Heidi Stafford. Sarah Jane paused to watch it and Penny picked up on it.  
>"They look worried sick." Penny said.<p>

"There's things here on Earth that make your blood run cold, never mind from outer space." Sarah Jane said.

She turned to look at her son protectively. Suddenly Penny hit Sarah Jane's arm, gently, but it got her attention.

"Mum, look at the screen."

"If anybody knows where Ashley is, please, contact the police." Jay's voice was heard saying but he couldn't be seen.

The imagine of the press conference had been replaced with the image of a boy with brown hair. Penny and Sarah Jane turned to the boy who was in the picture. Luke looked at them and then at the telly.

"But that's me." he whimpered.

.

"Mr Smith, we need you, fast!" Penny called, running into the attic.

Sarah Jane and Luke were only seconds behind her.

"I have been monitoring the news." Mr Smith said as he opened.

"It can't be true." Sarah Jane protested, seeing the picture Mr Smith had up on the screen.

It was the same one from the news story.

"It can't be true. Luke was created by the Bane to absorb human brain patterns. Did they model him on this missing boy? Is that it?"

"There's only one way to be certain." Mr Smith said. "I will scan him."

"But the first thing I remember is running. Running then meeting Maria and you." Luke said, looking at his sister.

He turned to his mother.  
>"And then you."<p>

"We have to be sure." Penny informed her brother, positioning him in front of Mr Smith.

Mr Smith began to scan. A beam of green light ran up and down Luke and then an image of Luke and the image of Ashley from the news appeared on the screen.  
>"Well?" Sarah Jane asked impatiently when Mr Smith had stopped.<p>

She could hardly bare it. Luke was what her family had been missing. She loved him like her own.

"I am assessing."

There was a pause, filled only my Penny muttering about how slow the computer could be at times.

"My assessment is complete. My cellular scan and DNA cross-reference with available medical records for Ashley Stafford are concluded."

"And?" Sarah Jane pressed.

"I have a comprehensive genetic match."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Penny shouted.  
>"What?" Luke exclaimed.<p>

"There must be some mistake." Sarah Jane tried.

"Mistakes are a human trait." Mr Smith said.

"But he doesn't have a belly button." Penny protested, moving between the super computer and her brother.

"Bane society, being egg born, find the navel crude and offensive. They would have surgically removed it at the time he was programmed as the Archetype."

"But this is my family." Luke moaned, tears swelling in his eyes.

.

Chrissie was standing in Maria's kitchen, watching the house across the road with suspicions. She was saying how she always knew there was something wrong with Sarah Jane and her family.

"It's a mistake." Maria protested, getting angry. "It can't be Luke."

She had been horrified when she had seen the news footage. It didn't make any sense.

"And why's that?" Chrissie asked. "I bet that daughter of hers was kidnapped and all."

"Sarah Jane didn't kidnap Luke."

"Let's let the police make up their minds about that, shall we?" Chrissie smirked.

Alan looked at her with astonishment.

"You didn't call the police." he hoped but he knew it was pointless.

"I've told you time and time again, there's something wrong with that woman. I can smell it on her." Chrissie said.

Maria gasped as she heard approaching sirens and a police car pulling up outside Sarah Jane's house.

.

There was a knock on the door that Sarah Jane expected. She left her two children sitting in the lounge. Penny was telling Luke how everything was going to be alright, how he was going to be fine. Sarah Jane opened the door to see a police officer.

"He's here." she said. "Will you just give us a minute, please?"

Sarah Jane walked back into the lounge.

"What's going to happen?" Luke asked.

"Well, I expect the police will take us to the station. They'll question me, and you'll see your parents again. Your real parents." Sarah Jane said soothingly.

She looked at her daughter, not sure what was going to happen to Penny. She expected UNIT would move in to deal with that situation.

"So why can't I remember them? I know all sorts of things. Quantum theory, Magnusark's Law of Hyperdimensional Relativity. I can remember every page of every book I've ever read. So why can't I remember them?"

"I don't know." Penny said. "No one knows."

"But you're going to go back to your parents, people who can care for you and love you."

"Don't you love me?" Luke asked, his lips quivering.

Penny pulled him into a hug as tears dripped down her cheeks. Sarah Jane was trying to stay strong for the both of them but it was hard, really hard.

"Of course I do. But you don't belong with me, Luke. Your mum and dad have spent months searching for you. The Bane took you away and broke their hearts. Today is the most wonderful day in their lives. They're going to get you back, and you are going to be an ordinary human boy with parents that care for you and won't ever let anything bad happen to you again, the way I never could. And it's the best day of your life, too. You'll see." Sarah Jane said.

.

Clyde had got a call from Maria. He had rushed round. He watched as police officers showed up on Bannerman road. A black car was parked on the drive way to but that lost all focus when the Smith family were lead out. Sarah Jane had her arm around Luke and Penny was leading the way, offering a poisonous glare to any of the officers who so much as touched her brother.

Clyde didn't understand what was going to happen. His best friend and his girlfriend were having their family ripped apart and there was nothing he could do.

"Don't be nervous, Luke." Sarah Jane whispered into her son's ear. "It's going to be okay. They're your parents, your real parents."

"Ashley!" a woman shrieked.  
>She broke out of the crowd of police officers and ran forwards, pushing past Penny and pulling Luke out of Sarah Jane's protection. The way she was so in his face startled Luke. He wasn't used to people being like that or suddenly grabbing him the way she had. Penny managed to squeeze her brother's hand to reassure him before he was pulled away from her.<br>"Ashley. You're alright. Oh, my baby! My beautiful baby boy!"

"Are you really my mother?" Luke inquired once he had got over his shock. "Was I born from your womb?"

"Of course I'm your mother!" the woman shrieked.

Once Penny got a good look at her, she recognised the woman as Heidi Stafford from the news. A man walked over and joined her in hugging Luke. She recognised him as Jay Stafford. If what they were saying was true, Luke was their son.

"Don't you remember us, son?" Jay asked.

Luke slowly, bewildered, shook his head. Heidi let out a scream of rage and turned to Sarah Jane, trying to force her way through the police so she could attack her. Penny was quickly between Heidi and her mother, not letting the woman even get close.

"What have you done to him, you witch? I hope you lose your daughter over this. See how it feels."

"I haven't harmed him. I swear to you, I wouldn't. I... Luke, Ashley, he had an accident. He lost his memory. I had no idea he had parents looking for him."

Penny managed to make it right up to the family and stood in front of Jay with a glare.

"What? You thought the fairies left him? You make me sick!"

"We thought he was orphaned." Penny managed, looking at her brother.

Luke felt a tear drip down his cheek as he looked at Penny. Suddenly a man dressed in combat clothes took Penny's arm.  
>"Miss Smith, I suggest you come with us." he whispered into her ear. "This place is too public."<p>

Penny looked up at him as he slipped out a small leather wallet and showed her some ID. Luke gasped as his sister nodded silently and allowed herself to be lead away and towards the black car. When Luke's gaze fell back on Sarah Jane, she was being lead towards a police car, clearly being arrested.

"Mum, no!" Luke screamed.

He couldn't find Penny in the crowd and he didn't want to be alone with strangers. He wanted his family back and Sarah Jane was the only one he could see.

The door to the police car was closed on his mother before she could reply. Luke felt more tears fall down his cheeks. He tore himself free of the grip of everyone around him and raced over to the car door.

"I love you, mum!" he shouted, hammering against the glass of the window. "Don't leave me. Don't leave me!"

Sarah Jane looked up at him and Luke could see a tear dripping down her face. Jay put his hand on Luke's shoulder and pulled him back from the car as it drove away.

"NO!" Luke bellowed.

"Come on. Let's get you home." Jay said.

Maria was standing across the road and she couldn't take it any more. She walked forwards and stood by Luke.

"Luke, everything is going to be okay." Maria told him.

Luke shook his head and was taken away to a car by Jay. Heidi stayed behind and looked at Maria.

"His name is Ashley. He's my son. Get that through your thick skull."

Then Heidi stormed away.

.

Sarah Jane looked at the pages in front of her. She had been interrogated but now there were a handful of UNIT files in front of her. There were pictures of Penny in the files and Sarah Jane briefly wondered what would happen to her daughter.

"It seems you've got powerful friends, Miss Smith." the inspector said, taking a seat.

Sarah Jane managed a weak smile. She had been expecting someone at UNIT to dig her out of the trouble she was in.

"I've done nothing wrong." Sarah Jane said.

"I know a cover-up when a smell one." the inspector pointed out. "But you're free to go."

"Thank you."

"A letter came for you as well." the inspector said, putting down a neatly folded piece of paper.

Sarah Jane picked it up and noticed the UNIT crest in one corner. Slowly Sarah Jane unfolded it.

"I'll let you have some time alone." the inspector said, getting up and leaving.

Sarah Jane felt a tear roll down her cheek.

'Due to the nature of the current issue and the overwhelming publicity it involves, we regret to inform you that Private Penelope Smith will no longer remain in your care and become the ward of UNIT for her own protection. This will continue until the fore-mentioned Private Smith is either the age of eighteen or the issue is completely resolved.'

It meant Sarah Jane had just lost both her children.

.

Penny stood up when the door opened. She gave the Major who came out a glare. He was Major James Stone, a rather plump old man with thinning hair.

"Private Smith." he called.

Penny was the only on in the room but he still didn't look at her.

"So UNIT kidnaps people now."

"It wasn't a kidnapping. We simply withdrew our assets from a situation that would have cause some questioning."

Penny looked away.

"When will I go back?" she asked.

"Hopefully once this horrible mess is all cleared up." a familiar voice said from behind Penny.

A smile broke across Penny's face as she turned.

"Brig!" she cheered, rushing up and hugging the man standing in front of her. "It's been too long." she said.

"You're getting too tall to do that." Brig pointed out, as Penny shifted her weight back.

Brig smiled and looked at Major Stone.

"How about I take Penny to my office while you make sure her sleeping arrangements are sorted out?" Brig said.

Major Stone nodded.

"I will debrief Private Smith later."

Then the Major left.

"In my day, we wouldn't rip a child from her family or debrief her about it." Brig said, pulling Penny into a hug. "How are you holding up?"

"I can't believe that UNIT are doing this. I need to be out there, helping mum fight for Luke back. I... I miss mum. I miss Luke."

"How are the UNIT fellows treating you? I know this isn't the most homely place to get over something like your current situation."

"It doesn't help, no." Penny murmured, feeling tears swell up in her eyes. "How many people here knew my dad well?"

"Very few. Your father didn't believe in their methods and he soon became more interested in the fine young journalist he was courting."

"It's just that, in the few minutes I've been here, eleven separate people have remarked how much like him I am. I wanted to see whether they were being truthful."

Brig knew his God-daughter too well to know that the very idea upset her.

"Come on, Penny, lets get you a bit of privacy and we'll talk over your options."

.

Luke looked around his new – old – bedroom. He didn't like it. It was odd. His old room had always had something of Penny's in because she often forgot to pick up her jackets when she went in. There were books he was half through reading and models of scientific structures he had made. There were framed pictures of him, Clyde, Maria and Penny and others of just him and Sarah Jane. It felt like a safe place. This room was messy and littered with things that didn't belong to him. The walls were plastered with posters of football players and bands he had never heard off because Sarah Jane and Penny thought they were too rude for him. Clothes littered the floor and there were few pictures. The room smelt horrible too, like someone had covered everything in a thick layer of deodorant and then left it to just smell.

"We've got Spurs on Wednesday, Ashley." Jay said, with a nervous excitement.

Luke didn't understand.

"Spurs?"

He had heard Penny and Clyde talk about them but they hadn't explained what they meant to him.

"Yeah, you and me, pizza and cokes, watching the match. Come on, Lampard, eh? Football. You remember football, don't you?"

"I don't like football. Penny tried to teach me it but I wasn't very good and..."

"But you loved football and you were great at it." Heidi murmured, handing Luke a picture of himself holding a picture.

He was dressed in a football strip, holding a football under one arm. He looked very professional.

"How about we order a pizza? Ashley, do you want extra mushrooms?"

"I don't like mushrooms." Luke said.

He hated mushrooms. Penny and him had built a system that meant Luke could pass Penny his mushrooms and she would throw them into the bin because she had the clearer shot. Penny didn't like mushrooms either and she had ended up telling Luke to tell their mum about his hatred of mushrooms so they stopped getting mushroom topped pizza.

"I'm tired." Luke said. "I need a rest."

"Okay, Ashley." Heidi said with a smile.

Luke looked at his bed and moved towards it, beginning to clean all of the t-shirts and comic books and sports cards off it. He heard the sound of the door locking behind him and turned. He rushed over and tried the handle but, predictably, the door didn't budge.

.

Downstairs, Heidi and Jay sat watching telly. When they were both sure no one was watching, they pressed a series of buttons on the remote and the channel changed from a plant care programme to a green light that flooded the room.

"Xylok, we've got the boy." Heidi said with glee.

.

Major Stone watched as the Private he had been talking to left his office. He waited until the young woman was completely gone before turning to the computer screen. He typed in a code and a green light lit up the screen.

"I've got the girl."

.

"Sarah Jane?" Maria called walking in.

Sarah Jane looked at Maria. She had left the door on the catch, almost as if expecting her daughter to walk in at any moment. She was almost disappointed when it was Maria instead.

"Where's Penny?"

"UNIT have taken her. They couldn't risk an alien catching sight of her over the news and attacking her." Sarah Jane said, in an emotionless tone.

The truth was, as she packed Luke and Penny's things into boxes so they could be sent to them, she was fighting to hold back the tears.

"Luke has gone. Back to his parents, where he belongs. And they are his parents. Mister Smith confirmed it. The Bane kidnapped him, did things to him. I got it wrong. Not for the first time." Sarah Jane announced.

Maria suddenly felt sorry for her. The woman had lost her two children in the matter of a day and there was no promise that she would ever see them again. Sarah Jane might have had chance to say goodbye to Luke but, in the chaos, she certainly had not said goodbye to Penny.

"But it's for the best. I'm not cut out to be a single mum. It was hard with Penny, how could I have thought I would have been able to cope with two kids. Children have no place in my life."

"You don't mean that. You can't mean that!" Maria protested.

"Maria, I have lost too many people I care about, my parents, my fiancée. I have lost so many. Imagine what would happen if I slipped up and you or Clyde or Penny or Luke got hurt. What would happen then?"

Maria felt like she was about to cry but at the same moment she couldn't.

"Maria, tell you dad to put your house on the market and forget all about me."

"What happened with never turning your back on the universe?" Maria asked, as a tear dripped down her face.

She had lost too much in the past few days. The boy she fancied, her best friend, both snatched away from her within minutes of each other. Now her whole life was being ripped apart. How could she go back to normal life having seen the wonders and the horrors of the universe? How could she simply turn her back on her friends?

"Sometimes it's just too hard to bear." Sarah Jane said, simply.

And then it all made sense to Maria. Her and Clyde were simply reminders of the two things Sarah Jane had just lost, the two children she might never get back. Maria left, heartbroken.

.

Sarah Jane had gone up into the attic. She looked around and her eyes settled on a game Luke and Penny had been playing days before. Penny held the high score and Luke was determined to beat it. It was the first instance of sibling rivalry she had ever seen in the two of them. Other things, a picture of a toddler Penny holding onto K-9 for support as she learnt to walk, what remained of the phone that Luke had taken apart to save the teenagers from Kudlak and the alien 'phone' that had been given to Penny which Luke had used to defeat the Bane brought tears to her eyes.

Around her the ghosts of her children swirled, laughing and joking, thinking and planning and being the amazing people she knew they were.

.

Clyde looked around his bedroom. He looked at all of the pictures he had drawn, the smiling faces of Luke and Penny. Tears swelled in his eyes as he walked towards his desk. A half drawn picture rested in the centre. It had been meant to be a gift for Penny, a drawing of her and Luke during the game of lazer tag that had landed them in the middle of a recruitment drive for an alien war. They were both smiling, looking so excited and content. Clyde remembered the moment he had drawn it from and couldn't take it. He grabbed the page and tore it in half with an angry cry. He kept tearing it over and over again and watched at the pieces drifted to the floor. Then he realised what he had done. He sunk to his knees and knelt there, trying to perfectly piece the picture together again.

.

Maria raced into her room and slammed the door. She pressed herself against it and put her forehead against her knees. Sarah Jane had changed so much of her life. She couldn't believe it would be over so quickly. She felt tears drip down her cheeks and, when she looked up, Maria could see the attic from her bedroom window. She felt a horrible sense of emptiness as the joy and memories came back. She threw herself up and closed the curtains, sitting in the darkness.

.

Sarah Jane was so caught up in her thoughts. She barely noticed Mr Smith open. She was sitting at the far end of the room, a blanket draped over her as she simply remembered.

"Sarah Jane..." Mr Smith began.  
>"I didn't call you." the journalist snapped. "I don't need you."<p>

"What would you be doing right now?" Mr Smith asked.

Sarah Jane looked at her watch. She knew exactly what she could be doing. She could be making Penny and Luke tea while the teenagers fruitlessly tried to convince her to order take-out.

"And what would you have been doing before that?" Mr Smith prompted.

Again Sarah Jane knew instantly. She would have been watching a film with Jonathan while they discussed their future, their wedding and, even later, their baby.

"Sarah Jane, the family you had is gone and you need a replacement, a purpose. I can give you one."

"I need a night off." Sarah Jane remarked.

She looked at the photo on her desk. It was of the gang, taken after they had fought the gorgon. At the moment the gang was broken apart, as dead as the gorgon was.

Mr Smith ignored Sarah Jane's comment and longing glance at the photo.

"The Pharos Institute has been developing a device that harnesses a person's raw telekinetic abilities."

"They are always trying things like that." Sarah Jane stated.

"This time they have done it."

"What?" Sarah Jane exclaimed.

As much as the Pharos Institute tried, they kept heading down the wrong paths.

"I believe they are cheating." Mr Smith said.

"Cheating?"

"I believe they are using alien technology to further their research."

There was a pause so Sarah Jane could take everything in.

"Would you like me to arrange an interview?"

Sarah Jane knew it wasn't healthy to work through emotional pain, to distract yourself from it instead of dealing with it. She was used to it however.

"Go ahead."

.

Major Stone studied Penny as she walked in.

"Private Smith." he began.

"Hello." Penny smiled. "We're here to talk about when I'm going home, aren't we?"

"Yes, something like that."

Penny noticed by the dark tone that had taken Stone's voice. She knew it was going to be bad news so slipped into a seat.

"We're not going to let you return to the care of Miss Smith."

"What?" Penny shrieked. "She's my mother!"

"She is also in danger of being prosecuted with the kidnapping of a boy your age. If we let you go back to her, you could slip through the net."

"But she's my mother." Penny repeated. "She only had my best interests at heart."

"Your heritage..."

"Don't talk to me about my heritage! My dad wouldn't have let this happen."

"Your heritage means you will nearly always be in danger. Jonathan Carter, Sarah Jane Smith, Jack Harkness, Left-Brigadier Stewart, the Doctor and so many more... They have enemies, Penny, and with your mother now becoming a questionable guardian for you, perhaps it is safer that you are in the care of someone who can protect you."

Penny stood up and looked like she was going to attack Stone. She then looked away.

"You can't stop me from seeing her or my friends."

"You will need permission to leave the base."

"What about school?"

"You will be tutored here."

"Missions?"

"Only the ones assigned." Stone said.

"Can I get permission from the Brig?"

"Only me."

Penny left but she couldn't shake the feeling she was a prisoner.

.

The next morning, Luke wasn't feeling much better. His bedroom door had been locked and he just wanted to get out of there. He was getting dressed in a school uniform he had found in the room when the door was unlocked and opened.

"Did you sleep well, Ashley?" Jay asked.

"Why did you lock my door?" Luke asked.

Jay moved into the room. He brought such a presence with him that Luke moved back a few steps.  
>He was told he had run away but Luke couldn't think of a reason he had run away if his life had been as happy as his parents were making out. Jay told him that they would never know why he had run away since he lost his memory.<p>

"And you can forget about school. You'll be staying here."

"I want to see my friends and my sister."

"Penny is not your sister. And Clyde and Maria will have gotten over you."

"How do you know their names? I never mentioned them."

"It doesn't matter." Jay sneered.

He left and locked the door. Luke heard the click of the door and gasped. He just wanted to be at home.

.

"Brig, you've gotta help me!" Penny cried.

"Penny..." Brig tried.

"Please." Penny said, doing her best puppy eyes. "I want to do something."

"You'll only make it worse for your mother if you go and see Luke."

Penny's face fell. She needed Brig to distract Stone so she could do what she felt desperate to do. She looked at the ground and then at Brig.

"You know you can't stop me. I'm just asking you as your god-daughter to join my side before I bring down the wrath of my alien busting gang upon you."

Brig watched her and then watched as a smile spread across Penny's face.

"There is so much of your mother in you." Brig told her and went off to find Stone to distract him.

.

Clyde looked at Maria from across the table. He was angry at the sudden announcement that Sarah Jane was refusing to see them again.

"No more monsters. No more saving the world."

"She's just lost both of her children."

"Well, she's not the only one hurting, is she?" Clyde growled.

He missed Penny and Luke. They had become like his family.

"Shouldn't they be at school, anyway?" Clyde asked.

"Luke – Um Ashley will probably go to his old school and Penny will go wherever UNIT sends the kids in their care."

Clyde felt silent and played with his food. He didn't look at Maria for a long time and, when he did look up, she could see the sorrow in his eyes.

"So we're never going to see them again?"

"Maybe it's for the best. Luke's starting a new life and..."

Clyde's phone began to ring. He frowned and went to answer it. He stopped when he saw the number.

"Penny?" he murmured, showing it to Maria.

He answered the call.

"Meet me by the school gates in five minutes." Penny said quickly and simply before hanging up.

Clyde smiled, getting up to go. Maria was more hesitant.

"It's nearly time for lessons." Maria pointed out.

"Look, if my days of fighting aliens are over, it looks like sneaking off lessons is all the excitement I'm going to get."

.

Clyde and Maria could see Penny standing by the gates. She had a UNIT t-shirt on under a casual jacket and a rucksack over her shoulder.

Maria watched as Clyde's eyes lit up. They just had to cross the car park. Maria went first.

"Maria Jackson, what are you doing out here?" a teacher asked, walking across the car park to Maria.

Maria faltered and then said she was going to the library. The teacher shook his head and herded her back inside. He looked at Penny but she pulled up her hood just in time so she wouldn't be recognised.

Clyde watched as Maria was lead away and then walked over to the fence, deciding it would be a lot safer for him to climb it. He began to do just that. Penny hurried round to where he was.

They were both about to say hello to each other when they realised they were leaning in for a kiss. They kissed each other on the lips and then pulled back, both blushing.

"We need to find Luke." Penny said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"Why do you have to be so one of a kind?" Clyde asked, looking at Penny.

"What?"

"Penny, you are wonderful." Clyde said. "I never want you to go anywhere again."

"Even if I am living with UNIT, I think I can convince Brig to let us stay dating." Penny admitted, a little bit too excited. "We need to get Luke though."

Clyde nodded and, hand in hand, the two hurried off.

.

Sarah Jane was being shown round by Celeste Rivers, a polite, clever woman who had a great passion towards the Pharos Institute. As they walked through the halls, they traded a few light hearted words about the situation and then Sarah Jane got down to business.

"I'm interested in your work in telekinesis." Sarah Jane said.

"Then you are in for a treat." Rivers said, stopping by a glass window.

Sarah Jane looked in. A scientist was sitting in a metal chair, wearing a head set. With great strain, he managed to lift a basketball in front of him and it hovered in mid-air.

"That's incredible." Sarah Jane gasped.

Suddenly the basketball popped and the man lulled forwards.

"Unfortunately, we're having a little difficulty with our energy focus stabilisation. MITRE. Magnified Intensification of Telekinetic Reactive Energies. Those headsets take the latent raw psychic ability all humans possess to move objects with the power of thought and directs it." Rivers announced, proudly.

Sarah Jane smiled, impressed. Deep down, however, she guessed this was the piece of alien technology that Mr Smith had been talking about.

"And who developed it?"

"Our child genius." Rivers answered.

.

A young boy was scribbling formula over a white board in front of him. The room was pretty much filled with white boards full of similar scribbles.

"This is Nathan Goss." Rivers said as they walked in.

"Hello, Nathan. I'm Sarah Jane."

"I'm working." Nathan growled, not even looking around.

He sounded stubborn and grumpy. He also sounded spoilt, as if no one dared to say no to him. Sarah Jane didn't like that one bit.

"This all looks very complex." Sarah Jane said, wishing Luke was there to explain it or Penny was there to put Nathan off-guard.

"Don't waste your time or mine asking me to explain."

Rivers shot Sarah Jane an apologetic look but Sarah Jane completely understood. She had dealt with stubborn children in her life time. Rivers decided to try and sooth the situation.

"Miss Smith's a journalist. She wants to talk to you about MITRE." Rivers said.

"You told her about MITRE?" Nathan gasped. "How stupid can you get?"

"Your work is important. It needs recognition and we need funding. I think..."

"Get out!" the boy ordered. "Leave the thinking to somebody with the intelligence to actually doing something with it!"

"I think we'd better leave." Rivers said.

Sarah Jane frowned and walked towards Nathan. She studied the work that he was doing and then leant into his ear.

"I used to know someone your age who could wipe the floor with your intelligence, Nathan. And wipe the floor with you, too."

Nathan looked at Sarah Jane with a frown and then watched as her and Rivers left.

"We'll see about that." Nathan promised.

.

"You'll need to talk to them." Penny said as they stopped outside the Stafford home.

She turned to Clyde and he looked at the house.

"Why me?"

"Because they've seen me before. They met me when they were taking Luke away. They know I'm Luke's sister."

"Okay." Clyde said.

Penny nodded and squeezed his hand.

"Good luck." Penny said.

Clyde smiled and walked over to the door, ringing on the doorbell. It was opened by Heidi who was scowling at Clyde.

"My name's Clyde. I'm a friend of Luk- Ashley's." he said, turning on the old Langer charm.

It didn't work.

"So?" Heidi growled.

"Is he in? Can I see him?" Clyde asked.

"No. Now hop it."

Clyde frowned as she tried to close the door on him. He put his foot into the closing gap and tried to keep it open.

"You don't look much like Ashley, do you?" Clyde inquired.

"Did that Sarah Jane send you?"

Clyde shook his head but Heidi didn't believe him. She produced a photograph from the side. It was a picture of Luke wearing a birthday hat and sitting in front of a birthday cake. His two parents were sitting next to him and smiling.

"His last birthday. We gave him a skateboard."

"Good was he? On a skateboard I mean?" Clyde asked trying to sound threatening.

"Stunning."

"Now you take that photo and show it to Sarah Jane Smith and you tell her that my boy is where he belongs!" Heidi snapped and slammed the door in Clyde's face.

Clyde walked over to Penny and showed her the photo.

"Lets go somewhere we can talk properly." Penny said, beginning to walk away.

.

Luke had heard someone knock on the door and Heidi get annoyed. He look out of the windows of his room and then frowned. Two very familiar people were walking down the road away from the house.

"Penny? Clyde?" Luke murmured.

He began to hammer against the window, trying to get their attention.

"Penny! Clyde! Up here! Look up here!" Luke cried.

He watched as they began to disappear away and then decided he was going to get out of the house. He began to search for something he could use to pick the lock.

.

Penny and Clyde sat in the park, studying the photo.

"This whole Luke and his folks thing stinks like a Christmas dinner fart. His so-called mum wouldn't let me see him. And the whole skateboard thing. Penny you tried to teach him to skateboard. He has no sense of balance at all."

"The Bane could have..."

"I don't care what anyone did to him. You don't lose something like that. It's instinct. And the photo seems off." Clyde grumbled.

"We want it to seem off." Penny informed him.

Suddenly her phone rang. She answered it with a frown.  
>"Brig, what's wrong?"<p>

"Stone is looking for you. He's got a job for you to do and he needs you back now."

"Okay. Send a car to pick me up. I'm in the big park in Hammersmith." Penny said.

Clyde looked at her when she hung up.

"I've got to go. Stone wants me."

"Who's Stone?" Clyde asked as Penny got to her feet.

"Someone I don't trust." Penny said slowly.

She too a deep breath and looked at Clyde.

"Photos can be faked. You should get mum and Mr Smith to check it out." Penny said with a nod. "Now I've really got to go."

Clyde nodded and stood up. He and Penny stood there awkwardly until Penny shrugged and pulled Clyde into a hug, kissing his cheek. Then she pulled back, smiled and raced off. Clyde watched her go and then looked down at the photo.

He then walked off to find Sarah Jane.

.

Penny climbed into the four-by-four that had been waiting for her at the entrance to the park. She waited until the car was being driven off before she pulled out her phone and rung Maria.

"Unlike you, Penny, some of us have school." Maria moaned, exasperated. "I've had to tell my French teacher I've gone to the loo so we haven't got long."

"Just telling you an update. Clyde's going to see Mr Smith about this photo we were given by Luke's fake mum. We've decided they're fakes. There's just something not right about them."

"So this is a hunch."

"A hunch we're working to prove. I've got a mission, not sure how long it will be so keep working on it."

She paused and bit her lip.

"And can you tell mum I miss her?"

Penny waited in silence before she got the reply from Maria. It took a long time, almost as if Maria was shocked.

"Okay." Maria said.

"Thanks." Penny said and then said her goodbyes and hung up.

.

Luke was using a pencil compass and a set-square to pick the lock. It wasn't going very well since Luke had never done anything like it before but he was learning. He could understand how it worked. It was just applying the theory.

Then he heard angry voices down stairs. For a minute he thought Clyde and Penny might have returned for another go but it wasn't them. It was a different boy's voice.

"What are you doing here?" Jay demanded.  
>"We have a problem." the boy answered.<p>

.

Penny got out of the car and looked at Stone. He was waiting for her already. She walked over to him with a false smile.

"Hello, Major."

"Hello Penelope."

Stone clearly enjoyed the spark of anger that lit Penny's eyes at the use of her full name. His smile deepened.

"I thought I said you weren't allowed to leave without my permission."

"If you're only thinking it then you're not sure but I'm sure you didn't." Penny lied.

Stone walked towards her.

"We don't have time to punish you right now. Something very important has come up. It is believed that the Pharos Institute are forcing aliens to work for them."

"The Pharos Institute, the paranormal wacky scientists who spend their time trying to prove that myths and stories are real."

"A colourful way of putting it." Stone said. "But they have become interested in telekinetic powers and have created a headset called MITRE. You and a senior agent will be investigating these headsets tonight. It could be dangerous, we have no idea what the Pharos Institute are willing to do to protect their secrets and..."

"Which senior officer will I be working with?"

"Me of course." Stone said, putting a hand on Penny's shoulder and leading her inside.

.

Sarah Jane was pacing the attic. She had tried standing still while she had worked but then the attic had felt too empty, too bare and worthless. It needed energy that had once bee provided by the children who stayed there.

"Nathan Goss is a genius. He has an IQ of 195. He was reading quantum physics at the age of eight. Some call him the young Einstein. Others say his potential exceeds Einstein."

"He's a spoilt brat who needs to be beaten at something." Sarah Jane said, thinking up a scenario where Luke managed to put Nathan into his place.

"Despite his intelligence, something like MITRE should be completely beyond him."

"It could make a terrible weapon." Sarah Jane said.

She could think of the devastation it could cause if a powerful human got their hands on it. She didn't even want to think about aliens.

"A destroyer of worlds, in the right hands." Mr Smith said.

If he had been able to smile, the tone of the words suggested he would of.

Sarah Jane asked where it could have come from but Mr Smith said he would need to further analyse it to tell.

"Mr Smith, are you asking me to go back to the Pharos Institute and steal one of those headsets?" Sarah Jane asked.

The answer she got both excited her and terrified her.

Mr Smith wanted her to do just that.

.

Luke picked at the lock as he listened. It sounded like an argument, possibly something from Jay's work. However Luke hadn't heard Jay go to work or come back from it. As soon as Luke heard his mother's name, he got worried.

"Sarah Jane has seen the telekinetic energiser. The idiots gave her a demonstration."

"She doesn't know anything." Heidi said.

The boy wasn't so sure. He began to fire insults at Heidi and Jay, telling them they were idiots. Luke cringed at the words, knowing they were bad.

Suddenly the lock clicked and Luke jumped back. He waited for a few seconds until he was sure he had unlocked the door and not someone else.

"The Xylok said she might poke her nose in. He said he would take care of her." Heidi moaned as Luke walked out onto the landing.

He looked down the stairs and straight at the front door. He just had to reach it. No one was in his way.

"Do you really think we can trust a Xylok?" the boy snapped.

Luke briefly wondered what a Xylok was but it was soon over taken by his need to get out of the house.

Luke started down the stairs, taking them slowly and quietly.

"The plan's too far advanced. She can't stop us. We've got the Bane's Archetype. We've got the boy!"

Luke gasped. They knew he was the Archetype. They didn't think he was their son at all. This was some sort of trap. Luke took another step.

A creak sounded like a gunshot.

"What was that?" the boy demanded.

Luke made a break for it but was grabbed by Jay and dragged into the lounge.

.

Penny walked slowly down the corridor. Stone had asked to see her in his office so they could discuss their plans. He hadn't specified a time so Penny had caught up with Brig and then decided to get the meeting out of the way. She wasn't sure what was making her nervous but something was. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't trust Stone at all.

Perhaps it was the fact that she was sure they were in the middle of a conspiracy about her brother.

Perhaps it was the fact that she could see a strong blue light streaming out from under the door to Stone's office.

.

Jay looked triumphantly down at Luke as he lay on the carpeted floor where he had been thrown.

Luke rolled over and got to his feet. There were Heidi and Jay and another boy that Luke recognised slightly. He had recently been in a science journal. His name was Nathan Goss and he was a genius.

"Oh, these new slim-line flesh-suits, they might handle the gas exchanges better, but they're a bit on the snug side." Jay said, slowly.

He raised a hand to his forehead and a blue light lit the room. Luke watched in horror as he wriggled his way out of the skin suit.

"You're Slitheen."

Heidi copied him.

"But you're skinny." Luke exclaimed.

"Amazing, isn't it? With this technology I can eat all I want and still be a size eight." Heidi snarled.

Luke turned to the boy and asked him if he was a Slitheen. The boy let out a cruel chuckle, clearly enjoying Luke's confusion.

"What? Don't you remember me, Luke? How you killed my family and left me locked in a sealed room to die?"

And Luke remembered. He remembered the Slitheen that had attacked the school. He remembered playing a key roll in defeating them. He remembered watching them as they were sealed into a room to die.

"Carl?" Luke breathed.

The boy nodded with a grin and unzipped himself. Luke studied the Slitheen with hatred.

"Same Slitheen, different skin. I teleported out and survived. My father wasn't so fortunate. And now, I'm going to get my revenge."

.

Penny opened the door to Stone's office a crack and peered inside. She gasped. She felt her heart leapt into her mouth.

Standing in the centre of the room was an adult Slitheen. Around it's feet lay a skin suit that had once been Stone. Penny watched him for a few moments and listened as he muttered about needing to let his real skin breathe once in a while. Penny edged the door closed and then thundered down the corridor, searching for the Brig.

.

Sarah Jane's car pulled out of the driveway as Clyde turned into Bannerman road. For a few seconds Clyde gave chase but it soon became clear he wasn't going to reach her. He sighed and gave up, turning to the house. Penny had told him where the spare key was in case something happened and that was what he needed. He found the spare key where it always was and let himself in.

.

Clyde walked into the attic and a smile spread across his face.

"Mr Smith, I need you."

He had wanted to say that for ages. The computer opened up and Clyde's smile widened.

"Clyde, what a pleasure." Mr Smith said.

Clyde wasn't really sure what to make of it but tried to act causally.

"You have something for me?" Mr Smith pried.

Clyde nodded and produced the photo. He walked closer to the computer.

"It's a picture of Luke and that couple who claim to be his parents but I think it's a fake and Penny agrees. I thought you could do your analysing thing and..."

"You're right, Clyde. It is a fake. I faked it."

Clyde was amazed. That couldn't be right.

"Am I missing something here?" Clyde asked.

"More than you can possibly imagine." Mr Smith said with a cruel tone.

"What's going on?" Clyde questioned, trying to seem brave.

"I am a Xylok. I have a purpose. And you, Clyde, are a part of it."

A beam of bright red light shot out of Mr Smith and hit Clyde in the chest. He gasped and then disappeared. Mr Smith's laughter rung around the attic.


	17. The lost boy part 2

"And where have you been?" Stone asked as Penny and Brig walked out of the UNIT base.

Both Penny and Stone were dressed in black, ready to break into the Pharos institute and find out what was going on. Penny had a rucksack swung over her shoulder.

"I thought that Penny needed to have a bite to eat."

"We have a canteen."

"UNIT food stinks." Penny shrugged.

"Are you planning to ever take my orders seriously, Penny?" Stone asked.

"If you threaten me. I might." Penny smirked, dangerously.

She walked towards the car Stone was standing outside of and climbed in. She shared a look with the Brig and then looked away. Stone picked up on it and frowned. He closed the door behind Penny.

.

Sarah Jane climbed out of her car and began to walk towards the Pharos Institute. She smiled as she pulled out her sonic and soniced the front door open. She walked into the corridor and looked around. She knew exactly where to head.

.

Penny dropped in through the window and watched as Stone followed her through.

"So where are we going to head?" Penny asked.

"Lets just look around." Stone said.

Penny nodded and began to follow him.

.

Sarah Jane smiled as she saw the head set. She used her sonic to open the door to the room and walked in. Penny walked past the window and stopped, seeing Sarah Jane.

"Mu-" Penny went to cry out.

Stone clamped his hand over Penny mouth and dragged her into one of the labs. Sarah Jane looked around, trying to find Penny. She was sure she had heard her daughter's voice. She frowned and slipped the MITRE headset into her handbag.

She guessed she had just imagined it.

.

Sarah Jane ran outside and across the field. Alarms began to go off and lights flashed around, lighting up the lawn in front of her. Sarah Jane paused and then pulled out her sonic, firing it into the trees.  
>"Buy a better security system next time." Sarah Jane said and ran to her car.<p>

.

Penny looked at Stone. He had pulled her into a small lab. The room had a row of metal lab desks and Penny stood beside one.

"What was that for? She is my mother."

"You could have compromised the mission."

"Only this isn't about a mission, is it?" Penny snarled.

"This is about my mission." Stone said, moving towards Penny.

She moved back and then felt something snap around her wrist. She looked down and saw a handcuff was holding her to one of the nailed down desks. She frowned as Stone began to unzip his his forehead.

Penny paused.

"You're not surprised."

"I saw you while you were in your office." Penny smiled with a shrug.

The Slitheen moved closer to her. His stomach made a noise. Penny's smile deepened.

"Looks like you're hungry. You should have had a bite to eat like I did. Brig took me for fish and chips."

"So...?"

"I picked something up."

Penny reached into her school bag and pulled out a small unlabelled bottle.

"Vinegar." Penny smiled and fired.

Penny turned away as the Slitheen exploded and then looked at the lock. She began to pick at it.

.

Maria was sitting in her bedroom, deciding that she should call Clyde and see what verdict Mr Smith had come to. She rung him up but got his answer phone. Maria hung up. She had heard that message too many times.

"Why aren't you answering, Clyde?" she murmured.

.

Clyde woke up and scrambled to his feet. He looked around and saw he was in a dark world lit up by random orange numbers. He studied them for a few moments and then continued to look around.

"Hello? Hello? Anyone? Where am I? Where am I? Just a clue? At least I'm still alive, I think."

.

Maria was on their home phone. She was trying to tackle calls from a nervous Mrs Langer.

"No, Mrs Langer, I haven't seen him. Don't worry, I'm sure he stayed at a mate's. Or something."

"But he was heart broken over Penny and Luke. They're like family to him." Clara said.

Maria sighed and tried to calm her down. When she was done, she hung up and looked at her dad.

"Something wrong?" Alan asked.

"Clyde's not answering his phone, Penny's not answering hers and no one has seen either of them."

"Maybe they've eloped." Alan joked.

When his daughter didn't laugh, he understood how serious it was.

"When did you last see them?"

"Lunchtime yesterday. Penny met us at school and Clyde went with her. He skipped school so they could go and see Luke. Penny rang me later. She said they don't think they're really Luke's parents and Clyde was going to see Mr Smith."

"Maria, I know I'm new to all this X-Files stuff, but surely, isn't it likely that Luke is a normal boy who lost his memory rather than some Frankenstein Junior put together by these aliens, the Bean?" Alan said, trying to sooth his daughter.

Maria corrected him.

"They thought they had proof that these people were fakes. Penny actually called them fakes." Maria said.

"What? Fake parents or fake people?"

"Maybe both. What if they've done something to them?" Maria asked, getting worried. "I've got to go and look for them."

She got up and looked for her jacket. Alan got up, abandoning the laptop he had been working on.

"I'm part of this now. I'm coming with you."

.

Alan studied the Stafford house with a disapproving look.

"If I was an alien bent on invasion, I think I'd choose a palace rather than this place." he said.

Maria rung the doorbell and waited. No one came.

"Come on." she encouraged, walking around the back.

.

Alan lifted his daughter over the wall. He wasn't very happy about breaking into the house. Maria got him to stop moaning and continued to work. She scanned everywhere.  
>"Just look for anything that will tell us who they are and what they have done with the others." Maria said.<p>

Alan repeated it and then opened a large cupboard. He gasped and fell back. He saw a skin suit hanging from the door. It had once been Jay.  
>"They've skinned someone. They're cannibals!"<p>

"They're not cannibals. They're Slitheen."

.

Luke's wrists were bound in front of him and he was watching the two Slitheens. Heidi was driving. Nathan was watching him. Jay was in his Slitheen form.

"Where are you taking me?"

"Where are you taking me? What will you gain from revenge? Why are children full of stupid questions?" Nathan repeated in a childish mimicking voice.

"You're a child."

"I'm not human." Nathan sneered. "And you're going to give me my revenge."

"I don't think I want to do that." Luke said.

"The Xylok said we should wait. Are you sure we should be doing this?"

"Las Fal Fize is in position. We should take our chance. You're as thick as a human."

"But the Xylok...?"

"What's a Xylok?" Luke asked.

He was ignored.

.

Clyde couldn't find the way in or out. He was getting nervous. He didn't understand what was happening.

"This is starting to look distinctly uncool, Clyde. No way in and no way out. And no one to tell me what on Earth is going on."

"I can tell you." a voice boomed out.

Clyde instantly recognised the voice.

"Mister Smith? Where are you?" Clyde called.

"Surely the more relevant question is where are you?" Mr Smith said smugly.

"Wait a second. You've gone bad. You zapped me."

"I'm fulfilling my purpose." Mr Smith announced.  
>"Which is to zap me to where exactly?" Clyde asked.<br>"This will have to wait, but we can chat later. It will pass the last few hours before you all die." Mr Smith told Clyde.

Clyde didn't understand it at first. Then a screen lit up, showing Sarah Jane coming into the attic. She was holding a head set and placed it on the scanner. Clyde watched in horror.

"Mister Smith's going to kill us all, and I'm inside him. This does not sound good at all. You've got to do something. Think! You're inside a computer, what can you do?"

.

Maria and Alan entered Bannerman road and went to go into Sarah Jane's house when they were called over by Chrissie.

"Why are you going over there?" Chrissie asked.

Alan became defensive. He was busy and Maria's friends were in danger.

"You didn't remember to lock the door when you went out, did you. It's lucky I came by. Your computer's making a right funny noise." Chrissie added.

Alan looked at her and then turned to Maria. He indicated for her to go up to Sarah Jane's house and tell her their news while he distracted Chrissie.

.

Luke watched in horror as Nathan produced a pair of large padded headphones. Luke couldn't fight it as they were placed on his head.

"What are you doing?"

"More stupid questions." Nathan smirked.

.

Sarah Jane opened the door and watched as Maria walked in. She began to protest. It took only two sentences for her to stop the protests.

"They're not Luke's parents. They're Slitheen."

.

Heidi drove the van up to a guard. She slowed it. Nathan was sitting next to her. He smiled at the man.

"Hello, Nathan. What are you doing here on a Saturday?"

Nathan produced a small device and fired a sonic blast at the security guard. The Slitheen weren't affected and Luke, sitting in the back with his ears protected by headphones, was also safe. The guard fell to the floor unconscious.

Heidi smiled and then drove off.

.

Chrissie was given Alan a lecture on not leaving things on when he was out. He was muttering about how the computer was doing strange things.

Chrissie sighed and left, knowing she wasn't going to get a proper answer.

Alan paused, trying to work out what he was going to do. Suddenly lettering began to show on the screen.

'This is Clyde? Is anybody there?'

'This is Alan. Where are you?' Alan replied.

.

Inside Mr Smith, Clyde was trying to focus on an imaginary keyboard. He continued to type.

.

'No time. Must warn Sarah Jane.' Clyde typed.

Alan felt his heart begin to race.

'Mr Smith gone bad.'

.

Sarah Jane raced into the attic with Maria.

"Mr Smith, we need you." Sarah Jane called.

Mr Smith opened up.

.

Alan ran across the road and through the open door. He thundered by the stairs.

.

"Do you have information of Slitheen activity on Earth?" Sarah Jane called as she walked into the attic.

"Slitheen? Why do you ask?"

"Because you got in wrong, Mr Smith. They're not Luke's parents. They're Slitheen."

Then Mr Smith began to laugh. His laugh was cold and evil. Sarah Jane and Maria sent each other nervous glances, unsure what to make of it. Sarah Jane called to her computer.

"Humans. So inevitably predictable."

That moment, Alan burst in. He was slightly out of breath and had fear in his eyes. He looked at Sarah Jane and Maria in horror.

"Get out! Get out now!" he shouted. "Mr Smith is one of the bad guys!"

Sarah Jane didn't believe him for one second.

"Who was it who told you they were Luke's parents? And how did UNIT know the police had been called so quickly?"

And then everything fell into place in Sarah Jane's mind. Mr Smith had betrayed them. UNIT had collected Penny while Luke had been taken. It had been too fast, someone must have contacted them. Mr Smith had been adamant he was right about Luke, no matter how they protested. It all made sense.

Apart from the reason why.

"I have a purpose. It must be fulfilled. The Slitheen have been useful, and so have you. But you are no longer required."

Suddenly a panel slid down on Mr Smith's side and a gun poked it's away out. It swirled around so it was pointing at Sarah Jane and Maria.

"Get down!" Alan shouted as a beam of red energy cut through the air.

Everyone ducked as the shot whizzed over head and hit the wall. Sarah Jane didn't pause for a second before telling everyone to get out.

.

Clyde suddenly felt as if someone was watching him. He tried to continue to focus on the keyboard but a voice cut through the silence.

"Now this is refreshingly unpredictable. Communicating with Mister Jackson's computer. Well done, Clyde. You're not as stupid as you pretend to be, are you?"

"You're the one who knows all about pretending." Clyde grumbled. "We thought you were on our side."

"I'm a Xylok. I'm not on anybody's side. I have my purpose. As for your interference, it is of minimal inconvenience. Sarah Jane can't stop me achieving that purpose. And soon, you will play your part in it. But now your communications are terminated." Mr Smith's voice said.

Clyde suddenly felt a piercing pain in his head. He felt unable to stand and soon lost consciousness.

.

"I trusted him with my life." Sarah Jane murmured when they were safely in Alan's house. "With the lives of my children."  
>Maria was trying to sooth her while Alan was trying to get a message to Clyde.<p>

"It wasn't online messaging. It wasn't even like he'd hacked it. He was just there, inside." Alan said, turning to the others.

"We have to find out what's going on." Sarah Jane announced.

"Do you think what is happening with Mr Smith has anything to do with Luke and the Slitheen?" Maria asked.  
>"It's too much of a coincidence not to at least consider it." Sarah Jane said with a nod.<p>

"And what about Penny? She's not been answering her phone." Maria told Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane's eyes lit up with panic.

"She told me to tell you that she misses you." Maria said.

"Could Mister Smith have some connection with the Slitheen? I mean, where did he come from?"

"The biggest volcanic eruption the world has ever seen." Sarah Jane answered. "Two years ago, I was researching volcanic activity..."

.

Two years ago.

"What you doing, mum?" an eleven year old Penny asked as she watched her mother work.

Her mother was holding a white crystal and studying it through a magnifying glass.

"It's something found on the site of Krakatoa, a crystal. A friend of mine sent it to me to see if I could work out what it was."

"It looks weird." Penny said. "Ever seen anything like it?"

"No. Nothing."

There was a moment of silence between the two and then Sarah Jane sighed and stood up.

"You want tea, don't you?"

"Unlike you, some of us have to eat." Penny smirked.

"Okay, I'll go make you some. Um... Have a look at the crystal if you want just be careful."

Penny watched as her mother left then almost let into the seat that her mother had been using. Her phone dug into her side as she did it so she took it out and placed it on the side.

Suddenly the screen lit up with a weird design. Penny moved her phone away to have a look at it but the design was gone. She moved it back and gasped.

"It's the crystal." she murmured.

She carefully picked up the crystal and put it next to her mother's computer. The weird design lit up the laptop's screen.

"Mum! Something's happening!"

.

"It's a memory cell from a spaceship that crashed millions of years ago." Sarah Jane told her daughter about a week later.

"And what's it doing now?" Penny asked, looking at the pile of wires and computer screens that had once made the crystal's display.

The crystal had gone into a rant about how Earth was primitive and that the technology was rubbish. He said he would create his own casing and that was what he had called them upstairs to been shown. Sarah Jane was nervous.

"Perhaps it would be better if you waited downstairs, Penny."

"No way. I'm not missing this for the world." Penny said. "He's promised to help us fight aliens. I want to know as much about him as possible."

"I am ready." a voice from the wall called.

Sarah Jane and Penny both jumped and looked at the wall.

"Okay." Sarah Jane said, protectively putting her arm around Penny.

Suddenly a hiss of gas burst into the air and a strange fanfare. Penny and Sarah Jane both gasped and watched as Mr Smith slid out.

.

Present day.

"So why, after all this time, turn against you?" Alan asked, after hearing the story.

"We'll work it out as we go along. We have to find Luke and Penny. I gave Luke to the Slitheen and knowing Penny she's got herself in trouble as well."

"Maybe they want to use him, like the Bane, to help them invade."

"The Slitheen don't invade planets, dad," Maria explained, "They're not a race, they're a family. They're a bunch of scavengers and chancers. It's Only Fools and Horses with green skin and claws."

"Slitheen are dealers, they'll sell anything. And it's normally stuff they steal."

Suddenly a sickening and frightening realisation dawned on Sarah Jane. She actually had to take a deep breath to prepare her for what she was about to next.

"And in some parts of the galaxy, telekinetic energy fetches a huge price. Slitheen could have got the plans for the telekinetic energiser from the other side of the galaxy, had it built at the Pharos. I knew there was a reason I didn't care for that Nathan."

"But telekinetic energy? That's moving things with the power of your mind." Maria exclaimed.

"And you'd need a powerful mind to harvest lots but that's exactly what Luke's got. Luke's telekinetic powers would be massive."  
>"So what, they bottle it and sell it?" Maria asked.<p>

She was met with a grave nod from Sarah Jane.

"And what happens to Luke?"

"Well, if they take it all, and the Slitheen never leave anything behind that they can sell, Luke will die. We have to find him."

"Is there a chance they have Penny?"

"What? Why?" Sarah Jane asked.  
>"Well it's not like Luke would let them do this to him without fighting back and Penny was investigating it like Clyde. Maybe they grabbed her to use as a hostage." Maria suggested. "It would explain why she's not answering her phone."<p>

Sarah Jane looked down but then looked up.  
>"Okay, we'll work on the basis that they have Penny as well. Come on. I think I now where they'll be."<p>

Sarah Jane paused.

"Do you have any vinegar?" she asked Alan.

"No, fresh out." Alan said.

"Okay, we'll need to stop off at a chip shop." Sarah Jane told them.

.

Luke wasn't as strong as the Slitheen but he was quicker and had more energy. They had been trying for roughly five minutes to get Luke into a metal chair they could strap him to so he couldn't escape. It wasn't working. The Nathan Slitheen had left when they had started try to force Luke into the chair and Luke was wondering when he would be back and what he was doing. He soon got his answer.

"Sit down, Luke." Nathan's voice instructed.

Luke turned and gasped. The Slitheen's claws were fixed around his sister's neck.

"Penny!" Luke gasped, running forwards.

Nathan released his grip on Penny and she pulled Luke into a hug.

"What happened?" Luke asked.

"There was a Slitheen at UNIT. I vinegared him but he handcuffed me to a table. I didn't have enough vinegar for any more than one." Penny whispered. "What do they want?"

"I don't know." Luke admitted.

"It doesn't matter. I'm just happy to see you're safe."

"This isn't really safe." Luke replied.

A Slitheen pulled the pair apart and held Penny by the shoulder. Luke looked at his sister and then at the Slitheen. The Slitheen spoke with Heidi's voice.

"Into the machine, boy. If you sit down then we might keep your sister alive. I've heard that some species will pay a great price for a certain Penelope Smith."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you get to watch as we rip her apart right in front of your eyes." Nathan said, walking towards Penny and stroking a claw down the side of her cheek. "And it'll be fun, bearing in mind she just murdered one of our own."

Luke hated the way Nathan studied his sister like she was meat in a butcher's shop. He wasn't going to let them hurt her.

Luke sat down. The adult male Slitheen smiled and walked over, tightening the straps over Luke's wrists. Luke gasped in pain as they pinched his skin.

"Whatever you want, we're going to fight you." Luke assured the Slitheen.

The male one smiled as he slid a MITRE headset on Luke.

"Love it. The more brain activity, the faster we'll harvest the telekinetic energy!"

"And we want it all. Everything." the youngest Slitheen smiled cruelly.

The Heidi Slitheen smiled down at Penny.

"Who do you think you're mother will mourn the most? Your brother or you?" she asked.

The machine was turned on by the Jay Slitheen. Lights began to flash and a display showed how much energy they had collected. Luke gasped in pain and Penny screamed out for them to stop.  
>"I've never seen so much energy!" the Nathan Slitheen laughed. "We're going to be rich."<p>

"He's a telekinetic power station!" the Jay Slitheen cheered.

Suddenly sparks began to fly out of the machine.

"He's overloading the system." Penny said with a smile. "That's my bro."

"What's happening?" the Heidi Slitheen shrieked, releasing Penny.

Luke didn't open his eyes. He turned to face Penny with his eyes closed and for a few seconds he just faced her, without looking. When his eyes opened, Heidi was thrown back, away from his sister. Penny smiled and knocked the Nathan Slitheen to the ground, rushing forwards. She went to free her brother but the straps were already being opened telekinetically.

Luke looked at his sister and then got up unsteadily. Penny caught him and pulled off the headset, throwing it across the room. She grabbed his hand and half dragged him out.

"Forget the profit. I'll have my revenge warm and dripping. I'm coming, humans."

He unzipped his forehead and began to give chase.

.

Sarah Jane lead the way into a chip shop and rushed over to the counter.

"I need as much vinegar as possible." Sarah Jane said.

The shop keeper looked at her strangely as Alan joined her.

"Seriously, what is this obsession with vinegar. Some guy called the Brig and this girl showed up asking for vinegar yesterday. Said if a Sarah Jane dropped by here to tell them that UNIT had been infiltrated. Whatever that means. Are you Sarah Jane?" the counter worker said.

"That's me." Sarah Jane said to the checkout worker.

"Well you've got your message and your vinegar."

"So Penny had the same idea as us, fighting aliens with vinegar from the chippy."

"It's acetic acid. Slitheen are calcium-based life-forms. They don't mix well with acetic acid."

.

Penny pulled Luke under a table in the office she had been in. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

She rung her mum.

.

Sarah Jane was driving along and Maria was talked rapidly to Alan about the Slitheen, getting him up to speed on them. They didn't notice the phone ringing.

.

"Answer phone." Penny reported, putting her phone away.

Luke looked at his sister and then down at the floor.

"I thought I was never going to see you again."

"Can't get rid of me that easily." Penny smirked, squeezing Luke's hand for reassurance.

Luke was about to say something when the door to the lab they were in was opened. They watched as two Slitheen feet walked in and stopped at the table.

A sniffing sound filled the air and Luke pulled Penny back so they were out from under the table. As the Slitheen ducked down to have a look under the table, Penny and Luke climbed on to and raced out of the room. Penny stopped after closing the door and noticed there was a key in the lock. She turned it and locked the Slitheen in.

"You're only making it worse for you." the Slitheen promised them.

.

Luke and Penny raced out of the building and into the car park. It was night-time and the crisp air hung around. The moon lit up the sky. The two of them looked at each other and then knew exactly where they were going to go, the one place they felt safest on the planet: the attic.

.

Maria, Sarah Jane and Alan walked into the lab roughly ten minutes later. They looked around and gasped as they saw two Slitheens in pain. The room was messed up and some objects were smashed of dented. The controls for the head set were smoking.

"What happened here?" Maria whispered.

"Hopefully, Luke did." Sarah Jane said with a beam of pride.

When Alan saw the Slitheens, he raised the two vinegar bottles he was holding.  
>"I'm armed." he warned them.<p>

"What happened?" Sarah Jane demanded. "Where are my children?"

"The misbehaving brats?" Heidi Slitheen sneered. "Back on Raxacoricofallapatorius we'd spank their backsides with a Bartleboigle tree."

"Where are they?" Sarah Jane pressed.

"They got away." Nathan said, appearing in the room.

He had his clawed hand around Maria's neck and a smile on his face.

"Leave her alone!" Alan ordered.

"Remember when you killed my father, Miss Smith? At the school?"

And Sarah Jane did remember. She remembered the Slitheen threatening to kill her family and destroy the planet. She remembered wanting to free them. But she also remembering thinking what they would do when they were free, that they would attack them and possible kill the four teenagers who had been with her.

"I didn't want any of you to die but you were going to kill our entire planet."  
>Alan was continuing to shout for the child to leave Maria alone.<p>

"Drop your weapon, or she dies." Nathan ordered.

Heidi Slitheen picked up a metal bin with a Luke-inflicted dent in. She held it out and Alan put the bottles of vinegar into it. Maria was released and she ran over to her dad, getting pulled into a hug.

"What now?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Now we contact the Xylok and get this deal back on track. Find the younglings and carry out what we threatened."

"The Xylok?" Sarah Jane repeated confused.

"You know him as Mr Smith." one of the Slitheen told her.

"Why would he have made a deal with you?" Maria asked.

"He said he wanted to help me get my revenge."

"Well, if that's what he wanted, why did Mister Smith send me here to find the telekinetic energiser?" Sarah Jane asked.

Then she realised what was going on.

"It's all been part of his plan. He brought you to Earth to build the telekinetic energiser, didn't he. He told me to come here looking for it. And now all he needs is for Luke to come to him, which he will do because he and Penny have escaped and Penny can't take him back to UNIT."

.

"Mum!" Penny and Luke called out together as they ran into the house.

The whole place was dark but there was light coming down from the attic.

"Up here, children." Mr Smith called.

Penny and Luke shot each other nervous looks but made their way up the stairs.

.

"So what does Mr Smith want with Luke? Is it something to do with Luke being the Mini Doctor, or pretending to be?" Alan asked.  
>"He needs the telekinetic energiser and Luke for something. I don't know what but he's probably got both of the things he needs right now."<br>"I don't care." the Nathan Slitheen said. "We don't need him to avenge our family."

He stalked towards Sarah Jane and the others. Sarah Jane pulled Maria protectively behind her.

"If you kill us, you'll never stop Mister Smith, and you'll never get off this planet alive."

Nathan Slitheen didn't seem to mind. He went to attack them but he was stopped by the adult Slitheen who warned him not to.

"Something Mister Smith said about the telekinetic energiser. With the right mind, it could be a destroyer of worlds. He meant Luke's mind. I think he's planning to destroy the Earth." Sarah Jane concluded.

.

Luke and Penny walked hesitantly into the attic and looked around for their mother. They didn't like the fact that she wasn't there.

"Where's mum?" Penny asked Mr Smith.

"She's out but she left something for Luke." Mr Smith answered and a slot slid out of his casing.

Luke gasped as he saw a MITRE headset. He went to back away but the door slammed. Luke looked nervously at Penny and she moved towards the headset with the intent of smashing it. Suddenly she was trapped in a containment vortex.

"Penny, you are so much like your mother it is sickening." Mr Smith sneered.

He then he reverted his attention back to Luke.

"Put it on, Luke." Mr Smith instructed.

Luke looked at Penny, trying to work out what to do.

"No." he said, looking at Mr Smith.  
>"There really isn't time to argue." Mr Smith said.<p>

"I have plenty of time." Luke said.

"But Clyde and Penny don't."

A picture of an unconscious Clyde appeared on Mr Smith's screen.

"I will suck out the air of where Clyde is and the containment vortex Penny is in to give you time to decide."

Luke heard a hissing noise and looked at Penny.

"Don't do it." she told him.

"Put the head set on now." Mr Smith ordered.

Luke walked forwards and picked the headset up.

"Luke, no." Penny told him.

Luke took a deep breath and willed for his mother to reach them quickly. He put the headset on.

"At last, we can begin."

The headset began to draw out at Luke's mind.

.

The control panel lit up and buzzed with electricity. Everyone turned to look at it.

"MITRE's gone online remotely. So much power." the Nathan Slitheen remarked.

The ground shook and the building with it. Everyone staggered about and then looked at the window to see what was happening.

"The moon! It's moving." the Nathan Slitheen exclaimed.

"But it's not possible." Alan breathed, looking at the moon as it grew in the sky.

"Luke isn't possible. Mister Smith isn't possible. But together they're bringing the moon crashing down on top of us. And we'll be dead long before it hits. The gravitational effect will tear the whole planet apart long before hand." Sarah Jane said.

"I'm teleporting back to my spaceship. At least I will be able to tell the family that Sarah Jane Smith is dead." the Nathan Slitheen said.

Alan snatched the teleportation device off the Slitheen and gave it to Sarah Jane.

"If you help me, we might all just have one chance to survive." Sarah Jane said.

She turned to Alan.

"I need you to destroy Mr Smith."

.

Penny watched in horror as her brother was drained. She turned to Mr Smith with rage in her eyes.  
>"Why are you doing this?" Penny shouted.<p>

"The universe will witness the power of the Xylok once more." Mr Smith said.

Penny slapped against the containment vortex and felt pain ring through her hands.

"Stop this, now!" Penny bellowed.

.

Alan was typing on the computer, trying to find a virus that could stop Mr Smith. The others were watching the news reports about the damage.

Then Chrissie called him. He answered the phone and she shouted at him down the phone. She began to babble about how the world was ending and how she needed to be with them.

Then the call was cut off.

"We're almost out of time, Alan." Sarah Jane said.

"I don't completely understand Mr Smith or his system but this is my best bet. The FBI had to stop a cyber terrorist using this to destroy the entire international banking network."

He ejected a disk from his laptop and handed it to Sarah Jane.

"You're not the only one with unorthodox contacts." Alan said with a proud smile.

Sarah Jane held up the teleportation device and looked at the Slitheen.

"It's time you showed me how this works."

.

Sarah Jane teleported into the attic and took everything in within a second. She looked at Penny who, with concern in her eyes, was studying Luke. Luke was being drained by Mr Smith.

"Mum!" Penny gasped when she saw her mother was there.

She was still trapped in the containment vortex but her mother reassured her than everything was going to be alright.

"Sarah Jane, you come to say goodbye." Mr Smith said.

"Why are you doing this?" Sarah Jane asked.

"The collision of the moon and Earth will release the Xylok from the planet's crust, where it has been buried for sixty million years."

"You'll kill billions!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.

"The Xylok are a crystalline life form. We crashed here as what you would call a meteorite. But buried beneath the Earth, our crystals have re-grown and become strong again, but nevertheless remain trapped." Mr Smith explained. "The release of the Xylok is my purpose. You gave me a chance to fulfil it and the time to plan."

"You used us, Mr Smith. That's evil." Penny spat.

"No. I'm just effective. The human race is a smear on the landscape of space. The universe is served much better by the Xyloks than you humans."  
>"Any race thinking it's better than another is evil." Sarah Jane told him.<p>

"I am not evil." Mr Smith stated simply.

"Then free Penny and bring back Clyde." Sarah Jane snapped.

Clyde was returned and Penny was freed. Penny rushed to Clyde's side and began to check him over, leaving Sarah Jane to face Mr Smith.

"Am I not merciful?" Mr Smith asked.

Then Mr Smith levelled his gun at them. Penny helped Clyde up so he could take cover if shooting starts.

"You made all this possible, Sarah Jane. I owe you the mercy of a quick death."

"What about other people? Don't they deserve mercy? You've been here millions of years, you've seen us evolve. Don't we matter to you?"

"Only my purpose matters." Mr Smith announced.

Penny moved out from behind the sofa she had got Clyde behind.

"Distract him." Penny whispered to her mother.

"You can change your purpose." Sarah Jane reasoned.

"No, I told you, Sarah Jane. We all have a purpose. Yours is to die so that the Xylok will live. After all, what life do you have alone in your attic?"

"I'm not alone. You've seen my family, you've seen Luke and Penny and their friends..."

Penny had backed herself against the wall and began to spin the combination to the safe.

"And there's someone else. I think you should meet my dog."

Penny opened the safe and shouted into the black hole.

"K-9, help!"

The robot dog teleported into the attic and Mr Smith shot at it. K-9 shot back at him and they continued to trade shots.

"Maximum defence mode. Take care, Mistress, and you, young Mistress. Safe to proceed, mistress. I have the unit covered."

Sarah Jane managed to reach the front and put the disk Alan had given her into Mr Smith's disk slot.

Mr Smith stopped shooting.

"Do you wish me to continue shooting, Mistress?" K-9 asked.

"We should be safe, K-9. Just be ready if we need you."

"Very good, Mistress." K-9 said as Penny knelt down and began to stroke him.

Clyde got out from behind the sofa. He looked at Penny and then at the robot dog she was stroking.

"You have a robot dog called K-9?" Clyde exclaimed, kneeling beside Penny.

She nodded and introduced Clyde to K-9.

"What have you done to me? I feel. I feel strange."

"It's a computer virus. It's closing down your memory banks. You're losing you memory."

"The speed of light is thirty six. No, eighty four. The Metrabeelen Cosmic Cluster is home to sixty eight thousand life forms. Sixty seven. I'm forgetting it all. Sarah Jane, help me."

His screen began to flicker and the image shifted.

"Without your memories, Mr Smith, you have no purpose." Penny reasoned. "Without purpose, you can't destroy the Earth."

"Put the moon back into it's original orbit before it's too late. And set Luke free, now."

"I've forgotten my purpose." Mr Smith exclaimed in horror.

"Your purpose is to protect the Earth, Mr Smith. That is your new purpose."

"To protect the Earth. Yes, I have a purpose. Thank you, Sarah Jane."

The screen faded to black and everyone looked at Luke. He was released by Mr Smith.

"Mum!" Luke cried, running into his mother's arms.

"Luke, you remember K-9." Penny said, smiling at K-9.

Luke smiled at the robot dog and his sister but didn't pull out of Sarah Jane's arms. He didn't want to ever have to leave her again. Clyde got up and rushed to the window. He watched as the moon got smaller in the sky.

"The moon's going back." he reported.

"Must return to the distortion, Mistress. Without my immediate attention, black hole will turn critical in zero point four two time spatial increments."

Penny sighed and kissed K-9's metal forehead.

"I'll get you back, K-9." Penny said.

K-9 beamed away and Penny joined in the hug between Luke and Sarah Jane.

.

Maria and Alan had come round and they all stood in the garden, looking up at the night sky with smiles on their faces.

"They they go." Luke said, watching a a bright light zoomed across the sky like a shooting star.

"Back to Raxacoricofallapatorius."

"And good riddance." Penny added to her mother's comment.

"Will they be back?" Alan asked.

The group nodded.

"They have a habit of returning." Penny smirked.

She took Clyde's hand in hers.

"What about Mr Smith?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, can we ever trust him again?"

"That virus wiped his system. He'll reboot with a new purpose of safeguarding the world." Sarah Jane smiled, putting her arms around her two children.

Then Chrissie walked into the garden and looked at them.

"Hello." she said.

"Mum!" Maria shouted and ran into a hug with her.

"We were just saying how beautiful tonight was." Sarah Jane said.

"Yeah, it's wonderful when the moon isn't falling on our heads." Penny smirked and then kissed Clyde on the cheek.

Maria watched the two of them and then took Luke's hand and squeezed it. Luke looked at her and blushed.

"I'm looking at something more beautiful than the sky right now." Luke said, his eyes fixed upon Maria.


	18. Sister of Mine

I know it's been a while and I'm sorry.

I don't own the Sarah Jane adventures.

Luke woke up and rubbed his eyes to keep him awake. He looked around and his eyes settled on a bag of Jelly Babies on his bedside cabinet. He sighed and looked at the note written in Penny's hand writing.

'Do you want a Jelly Baby?'

Luke sighed and took a Jelly Baby out. He studied in and then put it in his mouth.

"Hey, Doctor." Penny smirked from the doorway.

"I'm not the Doctor." Luke told her, eating the Jelly Baby.

"Of course you're not, Mini Doc." Penny said,walking into Luke's room and straight up to the mirror at one side.

"Mum wants to cook us breakfast to make up for our traumatic experience at the hands of Slitheen and later Mr Smith. What's a nice way of telling her that she'll only make it worse if she does?"

It was the day after the Slitheen and Mr Smith. Mr Smith wasn't working and Sarah Jane had already been up for an hour, mothering her children so much Penny was sure she had been replaced by an alien copy.

"We could call Clyde. I'm sure he'll drop everything to make breakfast for you."

"Luke, you just teased me. Oh, you're all grown up now." Penny smiled, turning to Luke. "You're well on your way to becoming a normal human."

She took a Jelly Baby out of the bag and smiled. She was just about to leave when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She had seen it in the mirror so she looked to where the movement should have been in the room.

No one was there. Penny looked into the mirror and shrugged.

"Well, I'll be downstairs convinced her that our digestive systems can't handle her cooking. You should get dressed. First day back at school. Do you remember out cover story?"

Luke nodded and said, "I don't forget."

They had the cover story that Luke had been a mistaken for Ashley and that they had managed to prove he was a different person. During that time, Sarah Jane had sent Penny to spend a few days with her God-father so she could be away from everything that was happening.

"Good." Penny smiled and studied the mirror.

"Go and save our taste buds then." Luke told Penny.

She nodded and left. Luke looked back at the mirror, wondering why it had drawn his sister's attention. He couldn't see anything and then rushed to get dressed.

.

Clyde handed Penny and Luke a packet of mints each and a drink.  
>"You should have called. We tried so hard to save you two we're not going to let the two of you die from food poisoning the day after." Clyde murmured.<p>

Penny and Luke proceeded to stuff as many mints as possible into their mouths. Clyde watched them with a smile.

"How are you two holding up?"

"Well." Penny answered. "I'm used to stuff like this and Luke's getting better."

Penny looked at Clyde and then moved closer to him. He pulled her in so she was under his arm. Maria walked over and saw the mints that the teenagers were devouring.

"Sarah Jane made them a cooked breakfast again." Maria concluded and smiled.

Then she produced an old fob watch and showed it to the group.

"Look what I found in our attic. You guys might have aliens but I have an old watch."

"It's beautiful." Luke remarked, examining the watch. "It looks so..."

"He's lost for words." Penny smirked.

Maria smiled and held out the watch.

"You can have it if you want. My dad says he brought it at a car boot sale a few years ago." Maria said.

Luke looked at her to make sure she was sure about it and then took the watch off her. The fob watch was decorated with swirls and circles that formed a beautiful pattern.

"Thank you." Luke said, slipping the watch into his pocket.

"So anything new happening? Any random aunts appearing from no where that could be aliens?" Maria asked.

"Nope. Everything is quiet in the world of fighting aliens."

"Apart from the fact that Penny was staring at something in the mirror." Luke said.

"I thought I could see someone but I was wrong." Penny murmured.

"Well, we need to get to class." Maria said. "We can discuss mirror people later."

.

The first lesson of the day was English and their job was to write a fantasy story. Maria and Luke were taking it seriously while Penny and Clyde had devised a game to see how many alien species or planets they could fit into their stories. Penny's story already had a young prince of a kingdom called Gallifrey fighting a group of creatures called Daleks who were trying to kidnap the princess of the Uvodni tribe. Clyde was clearly losing the game.

Luke got a text on his phone. Sarah Jane was asking how Luke and Penny were and she would panic if Luke didn't text her back. He told Maria about it.

"Well you need to text her back. Ask the teacher if you can go to the loo and text her back there." Maria said.

.

Luke pulled out the watch after texting back Sarah Jane. He carefully run the watch under the tap to clean it. He liked English because he had it was Maria and he sat right next to her. He wanted to get back but he also wanted to see the watch better and make it clear to Maria he cared about the gift he was given.

Suddenly something drew Luke to look in the mirror. He gasped.

A young girl, probably ten, was standing in the mirror. She wasn't in the loos with Luke. She was just in the mirror. The clothes she was wearing were old fashioned and Luke through they were from about the early 20th century, around the time of the first world war. She had long black hair tied back in a bow and blue eyes that studied Luke and his watch.

"Who are you?" Luke asked.

The girl answered by Luke could hear anything. Luke briefly wondered if she could hear him. Then he had an idea. Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, slipping the watch away. He typed out a message on his phone and held it up to the mirror.

"Can u understand this?" Luke typed into his phone.

After a few seconds, the girl nodded with a smile.

"Are you hurt?"

The girl shook her head and moved forwards so she was standing right in front of Luke.

"Did someone trap u in there?" Luke used his phone to ask.

The girl studied Luke for a second and then nodded slowly. A frown spread across Luke's face.

"I can get u out. I have friends and we can help u."

The girl nodded and her smile deepened. Luke nodded to himself and then ran off to find the others.

.

"Luke, me and Maria can't go into the boys' toilets." Penny told her brother as he tried to convince them that they needed to go in.

"But you said the signs were suggestions that other people didn't go in, not rules." Luke told his sister.

Clyde looked at Penny as if she was mad.

"We needed to get him to hide from the Bane and the only place we could take him were the ladies." Maria admitted, clearing everything up.

"And I needed you to meet the girl in the mirror." Luke moaned. "She's trapped in there."

"In the mirror?" Maria breathed.

Maria and Penny looked at each other nervously. What Penny had said that morning backed up Luke's story but neither of them wanted to go into the loos to find out.

"The science labs have mirrors." Clyde pointed out, seeing the girl's distress. "We could try them."

Truthfully, Clyde didn't want his girlfriend to get a reputation for going into the boys' toilets to find mirror people.

They were just about to go when Penny's phone rang. She pulled it out and saw that it was a UNIT listed number she didn't recognise. The Brig had promised to take care of the Slitheen in UNIT problem she had discovered but Penny had been expecting a phone call to arrange a debriefing for her.

"I need to take this." Penny said.

"Okay, we'll be in the labs." Maria answered, thinking it was Sarah Jane calling Penny.

Penny watched them go, checked the coast was clear and then answered the phone.

"Hello."

"This is Greyhound six."

"This is Hebe."

There was a pause as Penny realised she had just answered with her UNIT call sign, something she never did. Her call sign was Hebe, the Greek goddess of Youth, as she was the youngest UNIT agent they had.

"This is Penny Smith's phone, right?"

"Yeah."

"Great, this number was listed in known associates of the Doctor. I'm Martha Jones. I travelled with the Doctor for a while and I was wondering if you wanted to meet up or something? I need someone to talk to who understands the joys of the universe who isn't your normal UNIT agent and..."

"Okay, we'll meet up." Penny said.

She had read a file on Martha Jones when she had joined UNIT (she had got Mr Smith to hack the file and bring up anything of interest) and was very interested in meeting her.

"Great, I should be free this afternoon." Penny said, hoping that the mirror girl wouldn't be too hard to deal with. "My address is thirteen Bannerman road..."

.

"Who was it?" Clyde asked as Penny walked into the science lab.

"A UNIT contact." Penny answered. "She wants to meet up. I've arranged for me and her to meet up this afternoon."

Penny looked at her brother and Maria. They were moving a large mirror out of a supply cupboard. Clyde was watching.

"I don't think that there's someone inside the mirror." Clyde pointed out.

"Let's just trust Luke." Maria said. "What harm could it do?"

"We could get a detention."

"Oh, is Clyde scared of getting a detention?" Penny teased.

"I'm scared Sarah Jane might blame me for the perfect records of her children being ruined." Clyde replied with a smirk.

"My school record is anything but perfect." Penny scoffed. "Meet the original girl who cried alien."

"Penny, could you..." Luke trailed off as his sister used Clyde's school bag to jam the mirror upright.

"Thanks."

Clyde studied the mirror and everyone else took a step back so they could do the same.

"I don't see anyone." Clyde said.

"She's there." Luke assured them all. "I'm sure she is."

"Do we call to her or something?" Maria asked.

"I think the glass blocks sound. I was using my phone to communicate with her." Luke told them all.

"So what are we going to do. We can't wait around the whole of break on the off-chance she's going to show up."

"We could knock." Penny said.

"Yeah, go on, knock." Clyde said, sarcastically.

Luke didn't pick up on it. He walked towards the mirror and knocked three times against the glass. Then the girl walked out of the shadows. Clyde, Maria and Penny gasped and looked around the room, shocked to see that the girl indeed only existed in the mirror.

"These are my friends." Luke typed on his phone and held it up.

The girl looked at them all and then frowned. She shrugged her shoulders and pointed at them all.

"I think she wants to know who we are." Maria said.

Luke typed out everyone's names and show it to her. Penny pulled out her phone and typed in a joke.

"But we call Luke Mini Doctor because that's who he is."

The girl looked at Luke who had absent-mindedly produced his watch. He was looking at its surface with a gentle smile on his face.

"So how do we get u out?" Clyde typed into his phone, telling the others what he had written so they could try and think about it as well.

The girl shrugged and Clyde looked at the others.

"Maybe was can smash the mirror?" Maria said slowly.

"We can't smash every mirror on the planet." Penny told Maria.

"Then what can we do?" Luke asked.

The teenagers search each other for answers.

"We could ask Mr Smith."

"Seems like the best thing to do." Clyde agreed.

Then teenagers looked at the girl who seemed rather confused. Luke used his phone to explain what they were going to do and that they needed to meet up in the attic after school.

.

Sarah Jane watched the teenagers. She had heard their story and was having a hard time believing it but she couldn't see any reason for them to lie. They had moved a mirror into the attic, the one from Luke's bedroom to be precise. While Penny and Clyde had been moving it, Luke had told Sarah Jane about the watch he had been given by Maria and it was now resting on the side.

"So there's meant to be a little girl inside it."

"Yeah."

"And do you know a way of getting her out?" Sarah Jane asked.

The teenagers shook their heads but said they had an idea. Penny turned to the wall and summoned Mr Smith. He didn't come out.

"Oh yeah." Clyde murmured.

"Forgot." Penny said.

Luke told them that he hadn't forgotten, he had thought they were going to use Sarah Jane's watch.

"It's the best we have." Luke reasoned.

Sarah Jane scanned the mirror and it came back with no strange energy signatures. They were brain storming ideas when the doorbell rang.

"I'll go get it." Penny said, guessing it was her UNIT guest.

She left the attic and everyone turned back to Sarah Jane. Luke walked over and looked at the readings.

"It's giving off a form of radiation." Luke told her.

"Background radiation." Sarah Jane assured her son.

"But it's not the normal background radiation. That stuff is alien we could..." Luke paused and then began to pick up some random objects.

Clyde, Maria and Sarah Jane watched him, confused.

"Remember the Gorgons? They had that device, the talisman that acted like a switch. I could build one that worked with the radiation to switch it on and off and that should open up the mirror." Luke said.

He moved around like the Doctor, all energy and thinking, considering each object he grabbed.

"See, we don't need an alien super computer. We've got Luke." Clyde said with a smile.

Luke put all the stuff down on the side and smiled like a toddler who had just finished a treasure hunt. Then he paused for only a second before beginning to assemble the items. Maria watched him. She had never seen him build anything before. He wasn't very good at fixing the things together but she had no doubt that the science was sound.

Luke put together his rickety machine and placed it in front of the mirror so he could aim it at it. He held it up and then looked at the others.

"What happens if it blows up?"

"Um... Get behind the sofa." Maria answered Clyde's question.

"I was asking for Luke's sake." Clyde said.

Sarah Jane looked at her son. As much as she knew Luke wouldn't have messed up the science, the device still looked like it could blow up at any second.

"Luke get behind the sofa." Sarah Jane said and took the device off him.

She propped the device up on a chair and then moved behind the sofa. She fired her sonic at the device. It light up and hummed. Maria and Clyde both looked at Luke as the humming increased in pitch. It sounded like it was going to explode.

It didn't.

A smashing sound filled the air as the mirror cracked but then a voice filled the air.

"I'm out." the girl said. "I'm out. I'm free!"

"What's your name?" Sarah Jane asked the girl, walking closer.

The girl's gaze settled onto Luke and a hungry smile spread across her face.

.

"Hello." Penny said, opening the door.

Martha looked shocked but shook it off in a moment.

"I'm here to see Private Penelope Smith." Martha said.

"That's me." Penny answered with her usual smile.

Martha looked at her as if she was mad.

"You can't be. You're too young. The Doctor won't have taken you on his adventures."

"No. But he took my mum and has appointed himself as my Godfather. Well, one of them. I've heard about you. Jack's mention you a few times."

"You know Jack?" Martha exclaimed.

"Yeah. Now, I think you should come in. My mum will want to meet you."

.

The gang smiled as they looked at the girl. She paused for a few moments and then began to cry. The teenagers stood back, not sure how to react. Sarah Jane moved forwards and put her arm around the girl's shoulders.

"It's okay." she murmured. "You're safe."

Maria could only just imagine how the girl felt. She looked terrified. Something alien had imprisoned her in a mirror and she had just been set free by a group of teenagers and a journalist she had never met before. Maria could understand why the girl was so scared.

"You're going to be alright." Sarah Jane told the girl.

She got Luke to come over and introduced him as her son.

"Yes, I know him." the girl said.

"So what's your name?" Sarah Jane asked, lowering herself down so she was at the girl's eye level.

The girl paused and then introduced herself as Lucy. Sarah Jane smiled and introduced herself.

Lucy's eyes fixed on Luke and then on his watch which he had placed on the side.

"What trapped you?" Clyde asked. "What locked you into the mirror?"

He knew that Lucy's story would give them an adventure. If they had a name for the aliens, even better, because Mr Smith was getting fixed.

"I was so scared. This isn't even my time. I wanna go home." Lucy whimpered, looking right at Luke.

Maria didn't like the way Lucy was staring at Luke. Maria knew Luke was rather handsome. She knew a few girls had fancied him before he had been singled out as different to others. Luke was gaining popularity and female fans as he stayed in school and kept going. Part of Maria didn't like the fact that Luke was getting so much female attention.

But the way Lucy was looking at Luke was different. Now Maria really wanted answers.

She repeated Clyde's question.

Lucy's gaze flicked to Maria and Clyde for a few seconds but she didn't answer.

"Why are you answering our question?" Maria asked.

"You want to know what trapped me." Lucy said, reaching behind her.

She produced a green and black alien gun that must have been tucked behind her. She held it up and pointed it straight at Luke.

"He did." Lucy growled.

Everyone looked at Luke with looks of confusion that matched Luke's.

"Come again." Clyde said, trying to get a better explanation.

"The Doctor." Lucy clarified.

"He's not the Doctor. I'll scan him. He's human." Sarah Jane told her.

She went to scan her son.

"He's Time Lord in human form. All of you call him the Doctor."  
>They all paused and realised Luke's newly given nickname was the cause of it.<p>

"We call him the Mini Doctor, because he acts like the Doctor." Maria said.

Lucy didn't believe them. They didn't really expect her to. Sarah Jane watched as the door edged open a bit from behind Lucy and guessed it was Penny returning.

"Hand me the watch." Lucy ordered.

They looked around and Luke picked up the watch. With the gun pointed at them he had no choice to hand it over.

"Now you can watch as I devour your Time Lord consciousness and I become able to control the stars."

Lucy smiled down at the watch in her hand and then opened it. Nothing happened. Nothing would have ever happened. It was just a watch. In a rage, Lucy threw the watch down.

"Have you tricked me? Like you did to my family all those years ago?" Lucy demanded.

"No. No tricks. Luke isn't a Time Lord. He never has been."

Lucy frowned and then smiled.

"Then I see no reason you should live." she said, her voice dripping with glee. "First the fraud."

She aimed the gun at Luke and went to fire. Penny and Martha bounded in, slamming the door into Lucy who was standing by it. She was knocked to the floor and Martha snatched up the gun.

"Come on!" Penny called to her friends and family, getting them to run out of the attic.

They did and thundered down the stairs.

.

They all stood in the lounge, trying to work out what to do.

"Are you sure we're safe in the same house as an alien that just tried to steal a Time Lord's life force?" Clyde asked.

"She's not armed any more." Penny said, nodding towards the gun Martha was holding.

"Unless she goes in your room. You've still got the guns UNIT sends you, right?" Martha asked Penny.

Penny winced and looked at Martha.

"Most of them were thrown into a black hole." Penny said, remembering when Sarah Jane had thrown most (but not all) of Penny's UNIT guns into the black hole.

It had taken them quite a while to convince K-9 not to play fetch with the guns.

"Where did you find a black hole?" Martha asked and then realised it didn't matter. "The bigger question is, what on Earth are you lot doing letting Sister of Mine out of her mirror?"

"We thought she had been trapped by some aliens." Maria answered, slowly. "It's not like there was anyone to explain how she was."

"Who even is she?" Clyde asked.

So Martha told them as quickly as she could.

"And now she thinks we've lied to her."  
>"Yeah."<br>"Oh great." Penny remarked.

Martha paused and looked at Penny.

"She's blaming you lot and your brother."

"I know."

"The Villa is free. Take them there."

"What about you and mum?" Penny asked.

There was a pause and then Sarah Jane said they were going to go and reason with Lucy.

"You better go."

Penny, Maria and Luke left. Clyde hung back.  
>"If UNIT is ever looking for anyone with previous experience of aliens, ask Penny for my number." Clyde told Martha.<p>

Then Clyde left. Martha watched him go and then looked at Sarah Jane. She burst into laughter.

"I like those kids." Martha remarked.

"Um..." Sarah Jane paused, just as they went to go and reason with Lucy. "What's the Villa?"

.

"This is the Villa." Penny said, pointing at a rather nice house on a plain residential street.

She walked forwards and produced a key from under the doormat. The others watched her as if she was mad.

"It looked like a normal house." Clyde remarked.

"Well it wouldn't be a very good UNIT safe house if it was obvious." Penny smirked.

Maria didn't believe her for one second.  
>"A UNIT safe house with a key under the doormat."<p>

Penny sighed and told them that when an agent comes in they activate the security measures. It wouldn't be very good if someone broke in and were vapourised by the house for no reason.

"A UNIT safe house?" Luke said unsure.

Penny nodded.

"It's fine. No UNIT chappies." she assured him.

She opened the door and lead the way inside.

.

Someone watched the group as they went inside the house. A smile spread across their face as they watched.

.

Sarah Jane and Martha walked into the attic and frowned. The attic was empty.

"Mr Smith..." Sarah Jane called before remembering that the alien computer wasn't working.

"Who's Mr Smith?" Martha asked.

"Shouldn't we be more worried about the location of the alien?" Sarah Jane said.

She didn't want to tell a UNIT agent, even one who knew the Doctor, about her alien computer that had almost ended the world the day before hand.

"She might have gone after the kids." Martha said.

Sarah Jane nodded.

.

Luke and Penny collapsed onto the sofa. Both of them were very tired. It had been a very trying few days for the two of them. It was like an emotional roller coaster.

"Perhaps, Mini Doctor and his companion should get some rest." Clyde said.

"Don't call us that." Penny said.

Maria was closing the curtains just in case there was a certain girl outside. For a moment she thought she could see a girl staring at them but she guessed she was just nervous. She ignored it.

"Still, you two should have a rest. At least Luke should, pulling the moon towards us must have tired him out."

Clyde sat down next to Penny and she rested her head on his shoulder. She pointed upstairs and waved her hand around a bit to give directions.

"Bedroom is upstairs and on the left."

She pointed right when she said left. Luke pulled himself to his feet and grabbed Penny's wrist, trying to pull her to her feet. Penny shook her head and dug her way back into the sofa.

"No, no, sleeping." Penny muttered.

Luke sighed and shook his head at his sister. He went upstairs to bed. Penny watched as he went and then suddenly sat forwards, looking full of life once again.

"Okay, now he's gone, I need you both to promise something." Penny told them.

"Why couldn't Luke be involved?" Maria asked.

"He tells mum everything." Penny pointed out.

Penny walked over to the safe and opened it with ease. She knew the combination. She opened the safe and produced a small hand gun. She handed the gun to Maria and then produced something else. She held up a small notebook. It had a brown leather case and a circular swirl pattern on the front. Penny took back the gun and threw it back into the safe.

"What's in the book?" Clyde asked.

"My version of Mr Smith." Penny said, opening it. "You are not to tell my mum about this book."

She opened the book. Inside were a series of pictures of aliens and strange alien squiggles. It wasn't all in Penny's handwriting.

"Someone dropped a notebook through our letter box when I was ten. It's from the Doctor and he writes new facts or files nearly every month. He finds it every month but we decided to leave it in the safe so it was always there. Sarah Jane doesn't know. She wants me to have contact with the Doctor but she... This stuff is dangerous."

"How dangerous?"  
>Penny opened a few pages.<p>

"Cybermen, Weeping Angels and..."

She began to flick through the pages, showing them page after page of creatures. Maria and Clyde were amazed but let Penny explain.

"I must have told a past version of him about our adventures because he writes about the creatures we fight. If I had been bothered to get the book while we were fighting the Gorgon..."

She found a page on the Gorgons and show it to them. Then a picture fell out of the notebook. Penny frowned as Clyde picked up the picture. He smiled and looked at the picture. Penny blushed as Clyde turned the picture to Maria. It was a picture of a four year old Penny being held by the Doctor.

Then there was a knock on the door. Penny, Clyde and Maria all stood up and looked around. Maria walked over to the window and opened the curtain. She looked at the person standing on the doorstep.

"It's Lucy." she murmured.

"Okay." Penny said. "Clyde, go and get Luke. Maria, don't open the door."

Clyde went upstairs while Maria moved to the door, making sure it stayed closed.

Penny began to flick through the pages of the notebook and frowned, actually throwing the book to the ground. She sighed grabbed it up, slipping away photos and diagrams that had slipped out.

"What's wrong?" Maria asked.

"The Doctor, he never... He's never on time. Bet you it'll be in there after this is all over. It normally is."

Penny slipped the notebook into her back pocket just as Clyde drew a rather sleeply Luke downstairs.

"We go out the back."

"What about the security system?"

"It registers any lifeforms that aren't considered humans, wrong time lines, ages, guys made by aliens. It shoots at them and I won't have time to program it to not attack Luke!" Penny told them all.

"Shouldn't you have told us about this before?"

"Probably." Penny answered.

Luke paused and looked at Clyde.

"Call mum. Get her to bring the machine I made over!" Luke called, going to run upstairs.

"What?"

.

Sarah Jane got the call from Clyde and frowned as she hung up.

"The kids have found Sister of Mine." Sarah Jane told Martha.

Martha looked at her and then went to go and help the children. Sarah Jane stopped her.

"They asked for the machine Luke made that freed her."

.

"So here's the plan." Luke said, taking control.

He looked at the mirror he had brought down.

"Mum should be bringing my machine."

"And we're going to put Lucy back in the mirror?" Clyde tried.

"Yeah, just where the Doctor wanted her to go." Luke said.

Maria was still standing by the door, watching the girl who was standing on the door step.

"Let me in. You don't want me attacking random people in the street, do you?"

Penny looked at the others and then went round to the back door to make sure it was open.

.

Sarah Jane looked around as she walked in. Martha scanned the house.

"Did you bring the machine?" Luke asked, getting up.

Sarah Jane nodded and handed Luke the machine. He put the machine on the side, opposite the mirror. He began to set it up.

"Maria, when we say, open the door." Luke said, sorting out his machine.

Martha watched the teenagers.  
>"So why do you call Luke Mini Doctor?"<p>

"He's a genius." Clyde answered.

Penny shook her head and told Martha about the Zygons and their adventures.

Suddenly Luke began to cheer.

"Get behind the sofa." he instructed to the others.

Penny and Clyde shifted the sofa forwards and they all ducked behind it apart from Maria and Luke who both had jobs to do.

"As soon as you open the door, get into hiding." Luke said.

"Why?"

"It could explode."

Maria didn't like how casual she had become when it came to situations like that but she sighed and opened the door. She ran across the room and vaulted behind the sofa. Lucy walked slowly into the room. She could see Luke in the centre of the room and the mirror on the other side.

Lucy laughed cruelly.

"How on Earth could you think I would be so stupid as to walk in front of a mirror?" Lucy sneered, turning to Luke. "Now I can feed."

Lucy began to move towards Luke. He moved away from the machine, trying to put as much distance between him and her. Maria looked at Penny and then at what Penny was wearing. Penny was wearing a brand new jacket.

"Give me your jacket." Maria hissed.

Without even questioning her friend, Penny slipped out of her jacket and handed it to Maria. Maria stood up.

"Hey, girly," Maria called. "He's mine."

Lucy looked at Maria as she threw the jacket at Lucy. Lucy stumbled back, trying to pull the jacket of her face. Luke raced towards his machine and began to work. Within seconds, Lucy was trapped in the mirror.

Martha, Penny, Sarah Jane and Clyde all stood up and smiled. Luke was looking at Lucy who was prying Penny's jacket off her face.

"I liked that jacket." Penny said sadly, looking into the mirror.

Luke turned to Maria with an awkward smile.

"No one ever explained to me what 'he's mine' means." Luke told Maria.

Maria blushed but didn't explain, leading Luke out of the room.


	19. Flowers

Two months had past since they had dealt with Sister of Mine. The Summer had come with a vengeance and it was nearly the end of term.

Two guns were pointed at Penny. She had her back to the guns, not even noticing something was there.

"We've got her now." one of the attackers murmured.

They prepared to fire. Suddenly Penny turned. She raised her weapon and fired it. The two attackers were sprayed with water.

"I thought we said this would be a fair water fight. No teaming up!" Penny moaned to Luke and Clyde.

The two boys smirked and went to shoot Penny. She ducked.

Clyde had known neither Penny or Luke had ever taken part in a water fight for quite a while. The moment it was sunny enough, Clyde had found his old water pistols and engaged in a water fight. It was fair to say that Penny was winning.

Sarah Jane smiled as water splashed the plants she was gardening and missed her. She turned back and told the children to try and be careful. Then Maria walked in. Luke accidentally squirted her when he turned to face her.

"Maria, I'm so sorry." Luke said.

"It's okay." Maria answered as Penny handed her a towel. "I'll dry."

Maria walked towards Sarah Jane and looked at the plants she was caring for. Maria knew a lot more about plants than the others. Sarah Jane had once asked Penny and Luke to work on her garden. Sarah Jane's flowers had survived and, no matter how pretty weeds are, Sarah Jane was not happy to find out that ninty percent of what survived were weeds.

"I've always liked plants. Penny just wanted the garden to play football and she didn't have anyone to play with so I couldn't really keep plants near anything Penny could kick at." Sarah Jane said. "She and Luke have a great talent at destroying any living thing that can't move out of the way."

Maria waited until Penny moved towards them to signal she was leaving the water fight.

"So Penny, are you going to the try-outs?" Maria asked.

Sarah Jane looked at her daughter with shock in her eyes.

"I thought Penny had made the girls' football team already." Sarah Jane said slowly.

Penny had been going on about the team for weeks. She was really excited by it. She loved it. Clyde was always watching every match and telling her how great she was doing.

"They want to get the try-outs for next term done before the term starts so they can practice more in the new season. Mr Witcox wants a certain Smith to try-out for captain."

"The try-outs are tomorrow lunch time on the field." Penny said and smiled. "If Kelsey doesn't try to get in the way."

"Kelsey?"

Sarah Jane hadn't heard much about Kelsey Hooper since the Bubble Shock incident. She was confused why the name was coming up at that moment.

"Kelsey has been trying to cause some problems." Penny admitted. "She still believes Luke is really Ashley and that he wasn't made by the Bane."

Suddenly Clyde tripped over. He landed on the a flower bed and sighed.

"Clyde!" Sarah Jane said with an exasperated smile. "Seriously, is Maria the only one of you who doesn't destroy plants?"

.

Sarah Jane smiled as Penny walked downstairs, holding a cup of hot chocolate. Luke was already in the kitchen.

"So you two, you're to avoid Kelsey. We don't want her dragging up all the stuff from your time with the Slitheens." Sarah Jane said.

"Mum, we've dealt with Kelsey picking on us before." Luke said. "She..."

Sarah Jane looked at her son and frowned.

"She did what?"

"She stole Penny's clothes once after football practice. Penny was almost given a detention for not wearing proper uniform until she pretended that her clothes had been put in the showers." Luke explained despite Penny telling him that he shouldn't talk.

Sarah Jane looked at her daughter and sighed.

.

Something flew through the night sky. It hurtled towards the planet and landed in an empty pot outside the Packine Flower Shop. It began to grow and grow until it rose from the soil and flowered.

.

Clyde was on his way to school. He was trying to think of a way of congratulating Penny when she was announced as Captain. There wasn't an 'if' involved. Penny would get the role. It was just a question of working out what to give her when she did. He stopped outside a flower shop. He knew Penny wasn't really one for flowers but Clyde didn't really have many options.

He walked inside the Packine Flower Shop and smiled. Moving towards the bunches of flowers, he picked one out. They were black and white, like a football. He guessed Penny would like them. When he turned around, he noticed a plant outside. He decided he would need to help Sarah Jane replace the flowers he had broken when he had fallen over.

"Are the plants outside for sale?" Clyde asked.

The shop keeper nodded and walked outside to help Clyde pick. He looked at one of the plants and the shop keep paused. She didn't remember that flower being delivered. It was a blue flower with dark blue spots over the petals. Long limb like leaves hung from the stem and it was unlike anything that the shop keeper had seen before. It also was very strange. It gave the woman a bad feeling. She nodded simply because she wanted it gone.

.

Penny and Luke were walking into school. They were walking across the sports field towards the school when someone called their names. Only it wasn't their names; the names that were called were Penny and Ashley.  
>"Keep walking." Penny said, slowly to Luke. "She's just trying to draw a reaction."<p>

Kelsey kept calling them until Luke turned.

"My name is Luke."

"I bet Sarah Jane caused all that stuff down at the Bubble Shock factory so she could cover up the kidnapping."

"For crying out loud." Penny grumbled.

She grabbed Luke's hand and tried to pull him away. He won't let her, already annoyed at Kelsey for suggesting that Sarah Jane had kidnapped him. He had had enough of that while dealing with the Slitheens.

"Just because you can't cope with aliens and stuff, doesn't mean you have to take it out on the people who can." Penny told Kelsey.

The girl crossed her arms and Kelsey did the same. Luke wasn't sure what to do.

"What like your dad?"

Penny glared in hatred at Kelsey. Luke knew that Penny could be rather violent. She wasn't always like that but if someone hurts her family she would lash out. If Penny lashed out, however, she would be stopped from trying out for captain. Maybe even kicked from the team.

Luke stepped between Penny and Kelsey and then he turned to Kelsey.

"We don't want anything to do with you, Kelsey. Just go."

There was something in Luke's tone, something thick and dangerous. It told Kelsey that if she dared stay, if she attempted to cause more problems for them, then there would be trouble for her. Even Kelsey knew that having the cleverest boy in school as a enemy wasn't the best thing to have.

She turned and stormed away. As she did, she slammed into Clyde who was caring the potted plant and the flowers. He dropped both onto the field. The potted plant smashed open and shards went everywhere.

Penny and Luke turned when they heard the smash and saw Clyde was trying to clean up broken bits of potery. They hurried over and began to help.

"No, you really don't need to..." Clyde began until he saw Penny and Luke. "Surprise." he murmured.

Penny asked him who the flowers where for and Clyde looked at her in disbelief. She smirked and continued to pick up the shards.

"What's with the potted plant?" she asked.

"I was going to give it to Sarah Jane to make up for the flowers I squashed." Clyde answered.

Luke told him it was a kind gesture as they walked towards a bin with the shards. Clyde was carrying the bunch of flowers and Luke suggested they asked one of the science teachers if they could keep them in water for the school day. They made their way into the school and completely forgot about the plant that had been in the pot. It lay on the sports field and began to dig it's roots in.

.

The class were in a history lesson and none of them were paying attention. Clyde had drawn the two Smiths into a conversation about what Kelsey had been saying to them and Maria had been horrified to find out about it.

"You should have waited until I could have walked with you." Maria told them.

"We're not kids." Penny replied, keeping her voice hushed because they were meant to be listening to the teacher talk about Stone age medicine.

"Luke's less than a year old and you just act like you are." Clyde smirked, squeezing his girlfriend's hand over the table.

He would have probably reacted the same way as Penny had if Kelsey had made a comment about his dad. He wasn't sure how he felt about his dad but he knew that, given the choice, he would have wanted him around.

"Plus, you have had a pretty quiet few weeks, are you sure there isn't some alien threat plotting to kidnap everyone's favourite hostages?" Maria asked.

The teacher looked at her.

"Jackson, detention." he snapped.

Maria looked at him defeated. She wasn't going to argue because they could mean her friends could be brought in as well and Penny needed to become the captain.

.

"Sorry about the detention." Luke said, looking at Maria.

Maria shook her head and said it was her fault. She had been a bit louder than the rest of them.

"It's just a pity I won't watch Penny becoming captain."

Penny asked why everyone was so sure she was going to be captain but they all shrugged it off. Clyde smiled and took Penny's hand. They walked away so Penny could go and get changed. It was impossible for Penny to walk down the corridor without getting wished good luck or told by various people that they were going to watch her. It made a nice change from Penny being constantly ignored by the school and certainly meant she was more popular. It seemed that the weird way she acted in the past had been forgotten.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? I could get detention if you think you'll be lonely." Luke said.

Maria smiled and tried to think of Luke getting a detention. It just didn't seem like something that would happen.

Then she noticed the boy shifting around gently. She guessed her was embarrassed about something.

"Luke, what's wrong?"

"I don't understand girls." Luke blurted out.

Maria rolled her eyes. She was sure they had had that discussion already and she thought she had gone into enough depth. She asked Luke what she didn't understand.

"Why are girls so different? Like you're nice and Penny's funny and Jen was friendly and..."

"Who was Jen?" Maria asked.

"The girl who kissed me." Luke answered.

Maria remembered back to their fight with Kudlak when Luke had been kissed. That was when they had had their first discussion about girls.

"Why is Kelsey mean to Penny and me?"

"I think she's jealous." Maria said.

When she saw Luke's confused face, she continued.

"Think about it from her point of view. She fought aliens but didn't cut it so she doesn't have that but you and Penny do. She wanted new friends but instead you and Penny made friends. Penny's got a boyfriend and..."

"And what?"

"Kelsey wants a boyfriend. More than that she wants you. Luke, I think Kelsey fancies you."

Maria knew she had to be quick. The teacher would be coming to give her her detention soon and she knew how complex Luke could make a simple concept.

"She's got feelings for you like Penny and Clyde have for each other or... Me for you."

Luke paused.

"Penny's explained fancying to me." Luke said slowly.

Maria looked at him with a frown. She hadn't wanted to tell him about the way she felt. She wanted him to completely understand it.

"I asked her what the feelings I felt towards you were and she..."

Maria stopped Luke in a simple way. Her lips touched his. She paused and pulled back, looking at Luke as he turned red.

"I'm sorry I just... I think you should go." Maria said, seeing the teacher walking down the corridor. "We'll talk later, okay."

.

Clyde was sitting on a bench to the side of the sports field. His bag was saving a space for Luke and he was watching Penny warm up. Every so often Penny would look in Clyde's direction and smile.

Suddenly two legs blocked his view. He told the person to move before he realised they were Luke.

"Luke, I'm sorry." Clyde said, slowly.

He pulled his bag off the bench so Luke would sit down. Luke sat down and looked at Clyde.

"How did you ask Penny out?"

"Who's the lucky lady?" Clyde asked, expecting Luke to say he had over heard a boyfriend and girlfriend talking or something.  
>"Maria. We kissed." Luke answered.<p>

Clyde realised that Luke wanted to ask Maria out. He had known that there was something between them but he had never thought it would ever come to anything.

"Well, the timing is important. You've got to both be ready for it. You've got to be brave. Be up front about it."

"How?" Luke asked.

"Well, each girl is different and..." Clyde stopped when he noticed someone walking over.

Sarah Jane smiled as she walked towards the boys. She had found a letter about the football tryouts saying that parents could come and watch if they wanted so she had decided to show up. She waved at Penny who was taking some practice shots at the goal before the actual match.

The school had decided to host a game where everyone could show off their skills. Penny and the current captain were in charge of the two teams and the teams had been chosen at random. Given the warm ups each team was doing, Penny's team seemed to be the favourites. She had them doing team exercises while the other captain was making them warm up on their own.

"Where's Maria?" Sarah Jane asked.

.

Maria was trying not to watch the football match out of the corner of her eye. She had heard it start and could hear some cheering. She couldn't tell if anyone had scored, anyone had been fouled or it was just encouragement. It was really annoying. One of her best friends was in that game.

Then Maria's attention shifted towards what had happened before the detention – her kiss with Luke. She wasn't sure what to make of it or what Luke had made of it. She guessed he had told someone, probably Clyde.

.

The plant Clyde had dropped continued to grow. It's roots snaked through the ground towards the human's running over the surface of the ground. The football match.

.

Sarah Jane gasped as Penny was fouled. One of the girls had slide tackled the girl and hit into her ankle. People began to boo as the girl began to protest that she hadn't hurt Penny. Someone on Penny's team helped her up as their PE teacher awarded Penny a penalty.

"Go on, Penny!" Clyde called.

Penny put the ball down and walked backwards. She stared at the goal keeper and began to walk towards the ball. Her foot connected and the ball sailed into the top corner. The crowd errupted and Penny's team ran around her, cheering. Penny began a victory lap of the football pitch, her arms out open like she was some sort of plane. She slowed down to a stand and looked at Clyde, Luke and Sarah Jane. She gave them a salute.

Then the team began to play once again. Penny smiled at Clyde and nodded before running back and going to tackle another player. She passed the ball to one of the others on her team and slowly down. She stopped and looked down.

"What is she doing?" Luke asked, noticing Penny had stopped.

The girl had noticed something. She began to look around and then she looked at Luke, Clyde and Sarah Jane. Suddenly screams began to echo around crowd of people watching the match. Sarah Jane turned and gasped.

Large thick brown roots danced around and reached out, grabbing people. People began to run out and Penny called then onto the pitch. She began to try and plough through the sea of people, looking around for her family and her boyfriend. She couldn't see them.

Something grabbed Penny's shoulder. She drove her elbow back in a reaction and smiled when she struck something. The girl turned, taking a defensive stance.

She gasped as she saw Luke.

"Sorry." Penny murmured, reaching down to help Luke up.

He could be trampled in the sea of people panicking.

"We need to stop them from running." Luke told Penny as his hand clasped hers. "We need to find mum."

"Well if you have a plan on how to stop a group of panicking students from running, I'd love to hear it." Penny said.

Luke looked around and then everyone stopped. The two Smiths frowned.

"Oh man." Penny moaned, looking through the crowd.  
>She could see that the roots were attacking from the other end of the field as well.<p>

"There's no where to go." she pointed out.

"Well, we need to do something." Luke said.

Penny spotted the football on the ground. She snatched it up and held it under one arm.

"Show me where to aim." Penny told her brother.

.

Sarah Jane and Clyde were standing on the edge of the crowd, near a fence of roots. They hadn't gone with the surge but Luke had. He had gone to find Penny.

"These look like roots." Clyde commented, looked at the brown ropes that surrounded them and grabbed at some of the crowd.

"A plant. An alien plant. They do happen." Sarah Jane said.

Then a light flashed in front of them. Sarah Jane gasped as she saw it was a teleport. A man with blue skin landed in front of them, holding a plant that looked horrifying like the plant Clyde had brought for Sarah Jane and dropped.

Clyde pointed that fact out in a hushed whisper to Sarah Jane.

"What should we do?" Clyde asked.

"There's little we can do without the school realising we have dealt with aliens before." Sarah Jane told him. "All we can do is talk."

They seemed to be the only people who had noticed the blue man. Anyone else would have reacted at seeing a blue skinned alien with three eyes, a long trunk-like mouth and hands with four claws on.

"Hello, who are you?" Sarah Jane asked.

The man looked at her and was surprised my her calmness. He had been watching the panic with a look of glee before Sarah Jane had distracted him.

"I am Ovin of the Radiets." the blue alien chirped.

He moved his hands around as he talked and it became clear that he wasn't holding the plant but the plant was actually part of him. He raised one hand and moved it to the side, the net of roots moving to allow Sarah Jane and Clyde out. They walked out and looked at him.

"And the Radiets are like something out of a sci-fi film?" Clyde asked, trying to pretend he'd never dealt with aliens before.

He tried to remember back to when he had first found out about fighting aliens. He had been in denial. He could remember that.

"Is this some sort of film publicity stunt? How much did you spend on special effects to do this?" Clyde asked.

"What do you want?" Sarah Jane asked, forcing herself not to smile at how well Clyde was covering up.

Ovin began to monologue about how wonderful his plant cover planets was and how and his people were a kind race who loved plants and were actually part plant. Sarah Jane cut him off by repeating her question.

"My planet is dying and Earth is the right planet for my species to live upon. There is only one problem I can see."

"Let me guess, is it too much cement?" Clyde asked.

"Too many humans." Ovin said, curling back his lips in disgust as he spat the last word. "You see, one or two of you and my species could just about manage, a few slaves here and there but... Well, there are just too many humans so..."

He would have continued if not for a football slamming into his face.

"GOAL!" a female voice shouted from the crowd.

Sarah Jane gasped as she recognised the voice. It was even worse when Ovin sent his roots through the crowd to find the owner of the voice and anyone who might have been helping them. Seconds later, Penny and Luke were lifted into the air by their ankles. They didn't struggle as they were lifted over the crowd, knowing that, if they were released, they could hurt people by landing on them.

"Oh hey mum." Penny said as her and Luke were lowered so they could just about touch the ground with their finger tips.

"You know these people?" Ovin shouted.

Sarah Jane introduced her children to the alien but Clyde had to laugh when both of the Smith children, hanging upside down from roots, gave slightly weak waves.

"I told you humans were problematic." Ovin growled.

He looked at the mess of humans caught in the roots of one of his plants. He sighed.

"I need to have my mind full focused on you pesky four, just give me a second."

A thick layer of gas danced out of the roots and the humans trapped inside the circle of roots began to choke.

.

Maria had heard screaming but she had heard screaming right before a goal so she thought nothing of it. Her teacher was sighing and marking history papers.

"I'm worried about this, Maria." he said, looking up from the mass of papers. "These friends of yours. Luke maybe a good role model and Penny can keep below the radar."

He paused for thought before adding, "Just."

Then he looked back at his work for a few seconds. He marked a page and then began to make sure the pages were neat before continuing.

"But Clyde Langer... He's cheeky and... You've been talking a lot in lessons, Maria. It hasn't effected your grades but I was wondering what you talked about with them. I mean I did see your kiss with Luke outside the room." he said.

Maria frowned and pulled back. She studied the teacher for a moment and he began to wonder around the room.

"I worried that you're allowing yourself to become distracted." the teacher said.

He himself was distracted by a view out of the window. He gasped and hurried out of the room, excusing himself. Maria looked out of the window and managed a few moments of shock. Everyone who had been watching or playing the game were lying in the field apart from four people. It took Maria a few moments longer to recognise the four but she probably could have guessed who it would be. It was the gang and they were talking to a blue skinned alien.

.

Luke could feel the blood rushing to his head. He knew that it wasn't healthy to hang upside down for a long period of time but his concern was more pointed towards the school pupils and teachers who were now lying down as the roots retracted from around them.

"What did you do to them?" Clyde demanded, finishing his act of being new to aliens as there was no one to hear him.

"A simple knock out drug. It is actually produced in the plant's stem but can be dispersed through either the roots or the petals."

Penny clarified they were only knocked out. She slipped her phone out of her pocket and made no attempt of hiding the fact that she was texting someone. Ovin ignored her. Luke tried to ask her what she was doing when she slipped her phone away, having clearly sent the text.

Sarah Jane got a text and looked at Clyde to distract Ovin. The alien might have ignored one of them texting but a second sending a text would attract attention.

"So how to these plants work?" Clyde asked and Ovin launched into a long explanation about how the plants grew out of his body and he could then control them.

He used lots of technical terms and soon only Luke could understand what he was saying. Sarah Jane wasn't even listening. She had got Penny's text explaining where Maria was and knew that the teenagers were just stalling until Maria could come up with a plan.

.

Maria had no idea what to do. All she could think of was getting her friends free and that was impossible in her mind. She had dealt with aliens alone before but never like this. Never something so dangerous as this blue plant alien. She hung by the door and took in the scene, fighting to hold her nerve.

It was hard for her to think of a plan that made sense. She guessed the plants were there to invade but she couldn't work out why or how she could stop them.

.

Outside the universe in a black twisting dimension, the scene occuring on the field formed upon a rippling water like screen. A hooded cloak glided towards the screen, the figure underneath completely shielded. The dark abyss in the place of the figure's face shifted towards the screen and surveyed it. The figure was so detacted from the scene that it barely registered with them and they were gone within seconds.

.

"Sorry, but can you drop my children? I'm pretty sure Luke is about to throw up and Penny looks very dizzy." Sarah Jane said.

With a sigh, Ovin dropped Penny and Luke to the floor. They landed in unceremonious heaps. Clyde hurried over to help them up.

"I'm being to not like flowers." Penny told her boyfriend with a gentle smirk.

"Same here. Next time I buy you a gift. It'll be chocolates."

Luke watched the exchange between the two of them and began to wonder if he and Maria would ever feel like they could openly discuss things like that without worrying they would do something wrong and upsetting the other.

"So you want this place as a planet?" Sarah Jane asked.

Ovin nodded.

"And what will you do to the humans who live here?"

Penny joked that, given their current situation, Ovin was probably mad enough to try and turn them into fertiliser. Without even missing a beat, Ovin nodded and grinned at Penny's idea.

"You have got to be kidding me." Clyde moaned.

Ovin smiled, believing Clyde's comment was for him. It wasn't.

Maria had just walked out of the school and a large figure was following her.

Maria kept walking, ignoring everything that was happening behind her. She reached the others and mouthed 'play along' to them.

"So who's this?" she asked, seemingly completely unaware of the unconscious mass of pupils and school teachers behind them.

"This is Ovin of the somethings. I kinda forgot..." Penny said. "It's hard to remember things when you're being suspended by your ankle."

"He's here to turn us all into fertiliser." Luke said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "And take over the planet."

"My race is in orbit, I am just here to see the defenses of your planet." Ovin said with a cruel smile.

Sarah Jane looked at Maria and tried her best to ignore the figure looming over the girl. Maybe it was the fact that none of the humans in front of him were paying the figure any attention at all but that was when Ovin's eyes settled on it. He frowned and gasped taking a step back.

"No." he breathed in a murmur.

"Ovin, buddy, what's wrong?" Clyde asked.

Ovin was pointing at the figure. He had gone a paler shade of blue and looked like he was shaking slightly.

"The League." he murmured.

"What do you mean the League?" Sarah Jane asked.

Ovin began to mumble senselessly. The gang struggled to understand him and soon gave up. The gang looked around as if searching for what Ovin was pointing at. They could see the figure but ignored it, focusing on Ovin. The figure began to surge forwards with an almost water-like quality. In panic, the blue skinned alien raised his arms and began to bat them around. The roots flew through the air and, for their own safety, the humans had to duck. The figure didn't. The roots just passed through the black cloak as if hitting into fabric. There seemed to be nothing solid under the cloak.

"Can't you see it! Tell me you can see it!" Ovin gasped.

"See what?" Maria asked, sounding confused.

"Ovin of the Radiets, return to your ship and leave this planet in peace." the League member ordered with a low, almost hollow, voice.

The gang watched as Ovin teleported away. His plant surrounding the unconscious humans was still there but he was gone.

There was a pause before everyone in the gang turned their gaze fully onto the cloaked figure.

"What are you?" Sarah Jane asked, moving closer.

The very air around the figure was cold. Sarah Jane took a step back and reached out for the hands of her children. Something very strange had gripped her. She couldn't name the feeling but she felt like she needed to know both Penny and Luke were there.

The figure didn't answer Sarah Jane. It scanned the gang and then looked at Maria. It gave her a half-nod.

"It's a member of the League. I don't know what the League is but I know that it's here to help. I..." Maria trailed off because she wasn't sure what else to say.

Luke murmured to Penny something about the ground. She didn't listen. She was too focused on the figure.

"Why do you want to help?" she asked.

Her question was detected at the figure. It paused for a moment before answering.

"Penelope Smith of the Humans, I am here to help." the figure said as if that answered every question the humans might have.

Clyde began to aim questions at the figure and Sarah Jane did to.

"Penny, the ground..." Luke began.

"Not now, Luke." Penny hissed.

They continued to answer the figure questions but now its gaze was fixed completely on Luke. Luke shifted under the eye-less stare as the lack of eyes made it more uncomfortable.

"Archetype of the Bane and of the Humans, speak."

"The ground doesn't feel right." Luke murmured.

"The ground?" Penny clarified as if it was insane.  
>She trusted Luke's judgement completely. It had saved her life on several occasions but this just seemed wrong.<p>

The gang looked around to see the weeds that had still be in the air were pulling into the surface.

"They're burrowing." Sarah Jane realised.

One of the gang asked why. Sarah Jane had an idea but it wasn't until Luke voiced it that it became real.

"Ovin is going to use the roots to rip the planet apart. If he can't have it, why should we?"

"Because we have a rubbish chance of survival anywhere else?" Penny suggested as an answer.

"How do we stop him? You showed up the same time as him, how do we stop him?" Clyde demanded of the figure.

The figure had little more to say. It turned and looked up into the sky as if it could see the space ship that Ovin had teleported into the and the ships that his race were in, watching as they destroyed the planet that they couldn't make home.

"This world is not you home, Ovin." the figure said and it echoed in the heads of the gang.

They guessed Ovin could hear it too, despite how far away he must have been.

"Leave the world in peace."

The roots continued to go deeper.

"There's got to be some way..." Clyde said, leading Penny over to the flower to see if they could do anything about it.

They pulled at the flower but it broke at the stem. It still promised to keep it's roots digging down however, much like a weed. Clyde and Penny looked back at the others and shook their heads to show they hadn't made a difference.

"Get him to stop." Luke said.

He could still feel the strange vibrations in the ground. He guessed it was because he was the Archetype, his senses were more alert. He was beginning to feel a bit sick from the sensation.

The figure raised one hand and pointed it at the plant.

"Your plant will go." he said, mostly to Ovin than the others.

Then the plant was gone. It had disappeared. The ground settled and Penny and Clyde rushed back to join the others.

"And your people will go." the figure continued. "But you will stay."

Then Ovin appeared in front of them all once again.

"Where are my people?" Ovin demanded.

The figure slowly, silently, shook his head. He moved towards Ovin and pressed a long bony finger against Ovin's blue forehead, just above his third central eye. He disappeared. The gang all blinked and he had disappeared.

"What did you do to them? What did you do to him?" Maria asked.

The figure explained. It told them the Radiets and their plants would start again on a new world in a different dimension while Ovin, his ways of revenge not suitable for the new world, had been banished to the dying planet of the Radiets to await his fate.

After the figure was done explaining, it instructed the gang into silence. They tried to speak, to ask questions but no sounds would form. Their mouths opened and closed wordlessly.

"You will never come across The League." the figure said.

It was not clear if it was a warning or an announcement. It seemed to have the sense of the former but the actions that day left the gang in doubt. Surely they had already come across the League?

The gang paused for a moment and then the figure was gone. It had just disappeared. The gang waited for a moment and then turned away.

Penny suddenly found she could speak and made one comment as they surveyed the unconscious pupils, teachers and parents and the ruined football pitch they were sleeping on.

"How on Earth are we going to explain this?"


	20. Young

This is just a bit of fluff, really, the second part has more aliens.

I own nothing

Clyde's mum had gone on a weekend spa break with some of her friends from work. That meant that Clyde ended up spending the weekend at the Smith's. He had come over the Friday evening and slept in Luke's room that night.

Sarah Jane woke up to a lovely smell and a cheerful noise. At first she panicked. As much as she loved her children and thought they were brilliant, neither could cook. Then she remembered Clyde was in the house. There was a chance that he was cooking breakfast. Sarah Jane was just about to go and investigate when footsteps made their way up the stairs and stopped outside her room. There was hushed murmuring and then the door was opened. Sarah Jane sat up to see Clyde and Penny standing in her room. Clyde was holding a tray with a full English breakfast on and Penny was wearing a grin.

"Morning, mum." Penny said. "We brought you breakfast."

Clyde placed the tray on Sarah Jane's lap and smiled. He walked back and patted Penny's shoulder.

"Clyde's a great cook." Penny smiled. "He made me breakfast when I came down and he made Luke some eggs as well."

Sarah Jane remarked how she didn't know Clyde could cook. Clyde shrugged casually but it was clear he was blushing from the praise.

"I'm going to go down." Penny said, smiling at her mum.

Clyde watched her go before turning back to Sarah Jane.

"Thank you for the breakfast."

Clyde shook his head and told Sarah Jane it was his pleasure. There was a pause and Clyde went to go. He turned back when Sarah Jane asked him what he was going to do that day.

"Well, me and Penny were going to go and have a kick about with a few mates. We asked Luke if he wanted to come but he said he was going to stay at home."

Then he went downstairs. Sarah Jane watched him go and smiled. Since inviting other teenagers than Penny into her life, it had changed for the better. Penny was happier, Sarah Jane was happier.

She had a large family then.

In the past, Penny's only close friends were adults who dealt with aliens. Sarah Jane was overjoyed that her daughter had friends her own age.

.

Maria and her father walked into the attic. Since Alan had found about the aliens his daughter dealt with, he had began to work with them. Maria smiled as she saw Luke, watching TV.

"Where are Penny and Clyde?" Maria asked.

She had known about Clyde staying over. Sarah Jane told Maria that they were at the park when she walked in. Then there was a bleeping noise from up stairs. Everyone looking upstairs as Mr Smith called Sarah Jane. She hurried upstairs followed by the others.

.

"What's wrong, Mr Smith?" Sarah Jane asked.

Mr Smith was showing a map of London and there was a red dot in an old council estate. As the other entered the attic, Mr Smith explained. He said he had picked up some strange radiation blips in the area.

"Are they dangerous?" Maria asked.

"Not as I know of. I need some more information." Mr Smith said.

Luke said they needed to go down to the estate to find out what was going on. Sarah Jane nodded and she began to head towards the door, the two teenagers following her.

"Luke, call Penny and see if her and Clyde want to come." Sarah Jane instructed.

Luke got out his phone as he left the attic. Maria turned to her dad and asked him if he wanted to come. Alan shook his head and said he had work to do.

.

Penny picked up her phone and smiled. The football match continued as Penny stood on the side but Clyde noticed that she was on the phone and moved towards her.

"Hey, Luke." Penny said.

"If you're free, come to the Parkingson Estate. There's been some strange readings from there." Luke told Penny down the phone.

Penny smiled and looked at Clyde. She mouthed 'aliens' and Clyde grinned. After the phone call was done, the two waved goodbye to other kids playing football with them and went in search of adventure.

.

As they stood on the edge of the council estate, Sarah Jane turned to Luke and Maria.

"Remember what Mr Smith said. There's strange radiation in the air and it could be dangerous. We don't know what side effects there could be so you both need to be on your guard. Stay near me."

The journalist flicked her watch up and began to walk through the old apartments. Parkingson Estate had been closed after a fire in one of the buildings had pointed out that there had been serious building problems. People had moved out soon after.

"Could it be caused by anything other than aliens?" Maria asked as they made their way through the buildings.

Every noise echoed around. Birds taking off from the buildings clattered around. It would be hard to tell if someone was going to sneak up on them.

"Unless it's humans dealing with alien technology, it's aliens." Sarah Jane said.

They continued to walk forwards when Luke's phone went off. The ring tone echoed around and he sighed, answering it. It was a text from Clyde.

"Penny and Clyde are on the bus." Luke said.

Then there was a noise. The three all searched each other, seeing if one of them had made it.

"That wasn't any of us." Maria said slowly.

They all looked in the direction the noise had come from and then back. Sarah Jane pushed the teenagers behind them as she walked forwards.

.

Penny and Clyde studied the estate. The bus stop had not been far away and they had run there.

"This looks like the place." Penny said.

Clyde smiled and took her hand in hers. They began to walk towards the buildings. She told Clyde about Luke saying there was strange readings in the area so told him to be careful. They both headed forwards and walked into the estate.

.

Sarah Jane could heard some chirp-like talking as she moved into one of the apartments. Luke and Maria were behind them and they whispered something between them as they joined her.

"What's the plan?" Maria asked her.

"We're going to ask them about what's going on and see if they need help." Sarah Jane said simply.

They walked into the apartment. Three large creatures, bug like in appearance, turned and snapped at the three humans. There was a column in the centre of the apartments. The column was glowing and looked slightly shattered in places.

"Hello." Sarah Jane said.

The aliens studied them and grinned.

"We have test subjects." one of the creatures chirped.

"Grab them!" another shouted.

They rushed forwards. Sarah Jane made sure both teenagers were running when she made a run for it. The creatures hunted them, chasing them quickly.

.

Penny and Clyde could hear hurried footsteps echoing around.

"That could be mum and the others." Penny said, sounding worried.

They began to run in search of the others but soon stopped, seeing a strange glow under the door of one apartment. Clyde glanced at Penny and tried the door. It was unlocked. As the door swung open, they were left staring at a large column in the centre of the room. They both wondered closer and looked at it, studying the crack. Both of them touched the crack and suddenly felt very strange.

.

Sarah Jane, Luke and Maria were left standing in an apartment. They had heard the footsteps of the aliens thunder past and now were wondering what had happened.

"What was that machine they had?" Maria asked. "And what were those things?"

Sarah Jane paused and shrugged. She didn't know. Then the aliens ran past and there was the sound of children screaming. Sarah Jane looked at Maria and Luke and told them to stay there. The two teenagers went to shake their heads but Sarah Jane was already gone.

Maria went to follow her but Luke stopped her. He reminded her that Sarah Jane had said to stay there.

"Those were kids, Luke. Little kids. We need to go and help out."

.

"MUMMY!" a girl's voice screamed as one of the creatures picked her up.

She was dressed in clothes that were years too big for her and had fear in her eyes. Behind her and the creature, a boy dressed in clothes that were also too big for him was screaming.

As she walked into the apartment the aliens had made their base, Sarah Jane looked at the children and gasped as she recognised the little girl.

"Look what the machine did to some of the nosy humans." one of the aliens laughed, letting out a violent growl.

The little girl kicked and wriggled. She frowned and cried out for her mother once again. Another one of the creatures picked up the boy. He didn't struggle. He had fallen silent and seemed very nervous.

"We'll need to disect them." another creature said, his hands being raised and sharpening his claws against each other.

He moved towards the girl, just as Sarah Jane walked out of the shadows. The little girl struggled harder and broke free, running at Sarah Jane. She clasped the woman's legs and snuggled close.

"Mummy, I'm scared." the little girl murmured into the fabric of Sarah Jane's trousers.

Sarah Jane patted the little girl's back and smiled, telling her everything was going to be alright. She looked at the little boy in the arms of the creatures and held out her hands for him.

"Penny, I need you to run. They'll be two people tell them who you are and they'll be nice to you and..."

The journalist looked down at the little girl her daughter had become. She had recognised the girl instantly. It couldn't be anyone else's little girl. She guessed the little boy was Clyde.

"Be brave." Sarah Jane said.

Penny's eyes were fixed on her mother but she nodded slightly and pulled away, just enough so she could make a run for it.

"Buggies!" Penny chorused in a sing song voice. "Come and get me."

"What? No, Penny!" Sarah Jane shouted but the girl was already running.

The child was tripping over the long trousers that dragged after her until a human hand clasped around her and pulled her into the safety of the shadows.

Sarah Jane noticed it as two of the creatures continued down the corridor. They had missed Luke and Maria hiding in the shadows and missed the fact that they were protecting the young Penny. As the teenagers stalked out, the alien holding the young Clyde faltered. He knew he was greatly out-numbered. He paused for a few seconds and then put the little boy down. Maria walked closer and offered the boy, being sure to tell him that he was safe and they knew who he was. Sarah Jane sent a protective glare at the creature.

"Go after these children again and you'll have to answer to me." she threatened.

With in seconds she relaxed and took her daughter's waiting hand. She smiled at Penny who looked confused and promised to explain when they got home.

"Okay, mummy." Penny said, letting her mum lead her out.

Maria was holding Clyde's hand and Luke followed as they left. The creature watched them go and looked at the glowing column. Those children had something to do with their device. They needed to find out what.

And that meant going after the children again.

.

When they got back to Bannerman Road it was lunch time so Sarah Jane made sandwiches as Luke and Maria tried to explain to Clyde that his mother had left him with them and that he was safe. Penny wasn't much help. She kept asking Luke, Maria and Clyde if they were aliens and that would make Clyde scared again.

"You take Clyde," Maria decided as Penny watched Clyde cry, unsure what to do. "I'll explain things to Penny."

Luke nodded and moved towards Clyde, telling him everything was going to be alright. Maria sat down on the sofa next to Penny.

"Who are you and the boy and the boy?" Penny asked.

"We're some of your mum's friends. The older boy is Luke. The younger boy is Clyde. I'm Maria." Maria answered.

She watched as Penny surveyed the clothes she was wearing and then the little girl asked why she was dressed like that.

"You'll probably need to change." Maria agreed. "So how old are you, Penny?"

"I'm five now, Maria. I'm a big girl and mummy says that now I'm a big girl I get to go to bed at seven thirty when I'm being really really good, which is when I'm helping with aliens and helping her with her work and when Uncle Jack and Brig come and when Doctor..."

The little girl began to study the carpet sadly. She mumbled something towards the floor and then looked up.

"I want K-9!" Penny said, suddenly sounding very upset.

Maria was taken back and frowned. She knew who K-9 was and that during Penny's childhood he had been about the family home but she hadn't been aware that the first thing the girl would ask for would be the robot dog. As Sarah Jane entered with sandwiches, cut into circles with no crusts, she tried to distract Penny with food.

Luke had found the conversation with Clyde very interesting. A young Clyde was a bit like Luke. He asked a lot of questions that Luke knew adults thought were obvious. He asked if he was allowed to talk to Penny because Penny didn't talk to him. He asked if all insects were actually like the aliens they had dealt with before hand. He asked if Sarah Jane was an insect alien. However, the moment the sandwiches had been brought out, Clyde had suddenly become distracted by them.

He had got up and went for one, just as Penny had gone for one. When their hands almost touched, Penny had pulled back and looked at her mum. Sarah Jane got a sandwich for her daughter and smiled, holding it up.

"Penny, lets make a deal. You can do some painting later if you say that you'll be nice to Clyde and try and be friends."

Penny shook her head as quickly as her mum had suggested the idea. Luke and Maria watched her in confusion.

"Well, Clyde is staying here so if you don't want to make friends you'll have to stay in your room the whole time." Sarah Jane reasoned.

Penny muttered about waiting K-9 and asked where he was. Sarah Jane shook her head and sighed, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"K-9 is at the Brig's. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before but I was worried you'd get upset."

Penny's bottom lip began to shake and she looked on the verge of tears.

"No Doctor. No TARDIS. No K-9." Penny murmured.

Panic flashed in Sarah Jane's eyes. She told Luke and Maria to look after Clyde as she hurried Penny upstairs. Maria looked at Luke as Clyde tucked into the sandwiches that were on the table.

"What's wrong with Penny?"

Luke explained what he could. He told Maria about the Doctor leaving because Penny was in danger when Penny was just four. He told Maria that K-9 used to be Penny's best friend. He couldn't explain why Penny didn't want to talk to Clyde.

Maria sat down and smiled at Clyde.

"I wanna wear blue." Clyde said, looking at the red t-shirt he had on.

It was too big for him but that didn't seem to matter. He clear cared more about the colour. Suddenly there were happy cries from upstairs. Clyde looked at Luke and Maria and then got up. He almost tripped over his large jeans as he hurried forwards and Maria had to catch him.

.

Penny had been changed into a pair of smaller clothes, more suitable for her age. It was a blue top with a cartoon character on and a pair of small jeans. Her feet were bare however. In her hands were two cuddly toys. One of them was a toy horse and the other was a teddy bear. They were called Rose and Mickey.

"Look, Clyde, toys." Maria said with forced excitement as she looked at the boxes in the spare room. A large group of them were full of old kids toys.

Clyde rushed forwards and tripped. He got up however and began to go through the box. He found a toy he liked, a plastic pot and some plastic food.

"Does Lukey want food?" Clyde asked, putting the food in the pot.

Penny watched Clyde slowly and Maria made a mental note to ask Sarah Jane about why Penny was like that. Luke walked over to Sarah Jane and told her that they needed clothes for Clyde. There was a pause when Clyde heard the word shopping and he frowned. He clearly didn't like the idea.  
>"Shopping is boring." Clyde said, moving towards Luke. "Luke go with me."<p>

Sarah Jane nodded as she handed Luke some money. She told him to buy a selection in case they couldn't explain it.

.

Maria was eating her own lunch as she watched the kids. Penny was studying the pictures in a history book since she wasn't allowed to paint. Clyde was playing with food and doing some painting. Penny had tried to get Maria's permission to paint but had given up. Clyde was wearing some new clothes Luke had brought him and Luke was now relaxing from what he claimed to be one of the hardest shopping trips he had been on.

They were very cute as children. Maria smiled. Sarah Jane walked in, putting some drinks out. She had found some plastic cups and put them on the table for the children.

"Did Penny every play with kids her own age?" Maria asked. "When she was younger I mean?"

Sarah Jane shook her head, sadly. "When she was four there were these Cybermen..."

"Luke told me that." Maria said.

Sarah Jane nodded and sighed.

"Okay, well, after the Doctor left, Penny kept having head aches because of the ear pieces so she was off school lots. She only talked to me and K-9. When it was time to go back to school, she refused to talk to other children. She kept trying to get herself kicked out." Sarah Jane said.

She looked at Penny who was shuffling away from Clyde and held out her arms to let Penny snuggle next to her.

"Mummy, where's Luke?" she asked. "I like Luke. He's nice. He'll let me paint."

Sarah Jane shook her head and smiled, kissing Penny's forehead. Penny sighed and handed Sarah Jane her book.

"Can you read to me, mummy?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane picked up the book and sighed, reading the title.

"'Roman culture and the evidence of our inferences'. This is one of Luke's books Penny. Maybe we can find one of your books."

"Is it in the attic?" Penny said and raced upstairs.

Sarah Jane looked at Maria and then got up to look at Clyde and his painting. Sarah Jane realised that Clyde was rather good. She smiled and then a scream echoed from upstairs.

"Penny's found Mr Smith!" Luke shouted down the stairs.

.

Luke went into the attic and saw Penny was sitting on one of the steps leading down to the alien computer. She was smiling, her initial shock disappeared.

"Hey." Luke said, moving to sit next to Penny.

"Hey, Luke. Mummy said I might have some books up here that I can read. Then there was this alien and he's nice and he wants to scan me because he says I've re-grown or..."

"Regressed, Penny." Mr Smith said.

He scanned her and Penny smiled back at him.

"I have picked up high levels of artron energy from Penelope Smith. That is to be expected however as Penny travelled in the TARDIS when she was a child."

"Artron energy is what you get if you travel in time. K-9 says so." Penny said with a nod.

Luke smiled, pulling his little sister into a hug. He was impressed by the idea that Penny had always had her same qualities.

"Clyde wants to be your friend." Luke said. "So we're going to have a deal. What do you want?"

"I wanna read book." Penny moaned.

"I'll read you a book, if you tell Clyde that being scanned alright. I know how nervous it can be the first time."

Penny grinned and nodded. She didn't move to fetch Clyde however. Luke sighed and went downstairs, just to see Sarah Jane coming upstairs. When Clyde entered the room, Penny paused and studied him.

"Scans don't hurt." Penny said simply and rushed over to Luke, being to pester him for him to uphold his side of the bargin.

Sarah Jane smiled as Luke picked up a book and began to read to his sister. Clyde clearly wanted to be with Luke too but he clung to Maria's hand. He was lead forwards and Maria told him everything was going to be okay. She let go of his hand and Clyde looked nervously at the computer. It was the first time the five year old had got a good look at it and he was scared. He looked back at Sarah Jane and Maria. Then his gaze shifted to Luke and Penny. He wanted to run but he stood firm because Penny had said it didn't hurt.

The beams of light rose up and down and then stopped. Clyde opened his eyes, realising they had been closed. He smiled back at Maria and Sarah Jane.

"You're such a brave boy." Sarah Jane said, taking Clyde's hand.

At the sound of her mother praising someone who wasn't her, Penny shifted uncomfortably. Luke noticed it but didn't point it out.

"I can't believe we didn't consult Mr Smith earlier." Sarah Jane muttered to herself.

She guessed she had been distracted by the idea of having a chance to re-try Penny's childhood.

"Clyde has similar levels of artron radiation to Penny." Mr Smith announced. "This could be a result of time travel or..."

"A form of de-aging?" Maria suggested.

"It's comparable."

Sarah Jane looked at Penny and Clyde. They couldn't just continue their lives like that and there was definitely no possibility of explaining it to Carla.

"Is there a way to reverse it?" she said slowly.

Mr Smith paused for a few moments.

"Insufficent data."

Penny walked over to Sarah Jane and clung to her arm. She told her mother she was thirsty. Sarah Jane was about to ask Maria or Luke to get the girl a drink when Clyde did the same. Sarah Jane smiled and began to head downstairs.

"Luke, keep working on changing them back." she instructed.

.

Penny sat at one side of the table, staring at Clyde. Clyde sat at the other, watching Penny warily. It was a strange scene for Sarah Jane to watch. She knew that, when they had returned to normal, both Penny and Clyde would have feelings for each other. Neither seemed to be showing it.

"Mummy, when's K-9 getting back?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane tried to think up a lie but she settled on telling Penny that she didn't know. She walked over to her daughter and kissed her forehead.

"Brig says UNIT has some things for me to do. Some running and stuff."

"Who's UNIT?" Clyde asked, looking at Penny.

Penny didn't answer. She swung herself off the kitchen chair and then stopped. She slid back onto the chair but her legs didn't touch the floor.

"What's for tea?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane paused. She knew she wasn't a very good cook and she didn't want two complaining five year olds on her hands.

"Lets phone for a pizza." she said.

Penny smiled and raced to get the phone. Clyde did the same. Clyde's hand touched Penny's and he blushed, pulling back quickly. Penny smirked at him, almost playfully and then stopped. She scowled and ran back to her mum, handing her the phone.

"I want pepperoni." Penny announced.

"I want cheese." Clyde said.

The two children paused and then Penny left the room. Luke walked in. Maria had been with him but she had decided to keep an eye on Penny.

"I'm just going to call for pizzas." Sarah Jane said.

Luke smiled at the fact that he had been saved from Sarah Jane's cooking. He walked over and sat down next to Clyde.

"Why doesn't Penny want to speak to me?" Clyde asked.

Luke paused for a few minutes and frowned. He didn't really understand it.

"She seems nice." Clyde went on. "And she's pretty. She looks like Belle."

"Who?" Luke asked, for he had not watched any kids cartoons or films.

"From Beauty and the Beast. They fall in love."

Clyde giggled at the idea of love and Luke smiled. That was when Maria walked in, dragging a rather disgruntled Penny into the room. Penny glared at Clyde but smiled at Luke. She hugged him with a grin.

"She was trying to talk to Mr Smith." Maria said.

Then there was a knock at the door. Maria looked at the two children. It would be hard to explain the two of them to anyone.

"Okay, we're going to play hide and seek. I'm going to count to ten and you need to hide." Maria said.

She began to count, closing her eyes. Luke looked at the two kids and they gasped, giggled and ran. Clyde dove under the table while Penny climbed inside a cupboard and shut the door. Maria continued to count but she nodded to Luke to go and let the person in.

.

Alan walked into the kitchen. He smiled at Maria who was sitting at the table. Maria sighed, calming down. She had been worried it would be someone who might think something was up.

"You can come out now!" Maria called.

Luke shook his head, positioning himself in front of the table to give Clyde more cover.

"You have to find them." he said.

Maria looked at him as if he was insane but began to search the room. Alan watched her confused. He asked what was going on and Luke explained. Maria tried behind the door and the curtain. She looked in the gap next to the washing machine. Giggles drew her to the table. She looked behind Luke's legs and saw Clyde was hiding there.

"You were helping him?" Maria exclaimed as Clyde crawled from his hiding place.

Luke reasoned that Penny had the strategic advantage as she knew the location better. Maria asked Luke if he knew where Penny was and Luke nodded but didn't betray his little sister.

"Okay, so that's the pizza ordered." Sarah Jane said. "Oh, hello Alan."

She noticed someone was missing and Maria explained that they were playing hide and seek.

"Penny, you can come out now, you've won." Sarah Jane said, closing in on a cupboard.

She opened the door and smiled at Penny. She explained that the little girl always hid in the cupboard as she helped Penny out and brushed the dust off her.

.

Evening had set in. Maria and Alan had gone home. Sarah Jane knew she couldn't leave Luke in charge of two small children so she could do little work on curing them. She had got down a box of children's toys from the spare room and put a film on. Luke and Clyde had insisted on Beauty and the Beast. Penny didn't like the film but she couldn't say no to playing with her toys. She sat on the floor playing while Clyde and Luke were watching the film on the telly. Sarah Jane watched them all with a bitter sweet taste in her mouth.

She loved how cute they all were together, how peaceful and content they seemed to be. She knew however that Penny was avoiding Clyde, Luke was worrying about how he was meant to explain his sister going from nearly fourteen to five within a few days and she too was worried about the future. As much as a second chance at Penny's childhood would be amazing, she was dealing with threats that she didn't think a five year old could handle and was dependant on Penny for help with Luke and the others. Also she would be exposed because of Clyde.

"Tale as old as time." a little voice swung, drawing Sarah Jane from her thoughts.

Someone was singing along with the film. She searched the people sitting on the sofa next to her.

"Tune as old as song."

It wasn't Luke or Clyde.

"Bitter sweet and strange, finding you can change..."

Penny!

She looked at Penny and frowned. She could see the girl's lips moving to the words.

"...learning you were wrong."

She didn't want to point it out to Penny but she listened. Penny didn't have a beautiful voice. She was also nervous and unsure of the words. Luke picked up on the singing and watched the girl.

He looked at Sarah Jane and saw that his mother was smiling.

He smiled back and slipped his around over Clyde.

.

Penny was tucked under the covers by Sarah Jane.

"Good night sweetie." Sarah Jane said, kissing Penny's forehead.

Penny wriggled around under the covers and grinned. She pulled Rose and Mickey closer and hugged the cuddly toys.

"Can you wake me up if K-9 comes back?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane nodded and promised. Clyde knocked on the door, wearing a pair of pyjamas. Luke was standing behind him.

"Good night, Penny." Luke smiled. "Come on, Clyde. She'll be done in a minute."

Clyde nodded and let Luke lead him away. Penny watched them go and then looked at her mummy.

"I'm your brave little girl, aren't I? No one else?" Penny clarified.

Sarah Jane nodded and kissed her daughter's forehead again. Then she left the room and put Clyde to bed.

.

Luke woke up to the sound of screaming and moaning. He looked down and frowned at Clyde, kneeling beside the little boy. Clyde was asleep but he was moaning. Luke had heard about things like that.

Nightmares.

He nudged the boy awake, telling him there was nothing to worry about. Clyde's eyes snapped open and tears rolled down his cheeks. He pulled himself into Luke's arms, hugging the boy.

"I don't want to be alone." Clyde murmured.

And then it all made sense to Luke. When he had first become friends with Luke, he had asked if he should make trouble like Clyde did to make friends. He had been desperate for company because he had felt like no one wanted him. Maybe Clyde had been the same. He had made trouble, learnt how to be cool, so he could make friends.

"You won't leave, Lukey." Clyde murmured.

Luke told him he wouldn't but he pulled back and grabbed his dressing gown, letting Clyde use it to dry his eyes.

"How about I go and get you a drink and you can calm down?" Luke asked.

Clyde nodded slowly and let Luke go. Luke walked out into the hallway and could hear something else. It was the sound of crying and whimpering. It was also coming from Penny's room.

Luke edged the door open and saw Penny sitting up in bed, her knees held to her chest, tears dripping from her cheeks onto her covers.

"Luke?" she murmured, recognising him.

Luke nodded as he walked in. He sat on Penny's bed like he had seen Sarah Jane do before. Penny looked at Luke with her watery eyes.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked.

"I wet the bed." Penny whimpered.

Luke got to his feet like lightening.

"I'll go... I'll go get mum." Luke said quickly.

.

Luke watched as Penny sat in the kitchen, wearing fresh pyjamas. Her covers were in the washing machine along with her other pyjamas. Sarah Jane was putting new covers on.

"Why did you wet the bed?" Luke asked.

Penny suddenly burst into tears.

"I didn't want to. It's not my fault. It was an... an accident. Don't..."

Her words evaporated into sobs. Luke sat next to his sister and put his arm around her.

"We know it was an accident."

"But Doctor left because I wasn't... brave enough and... I almost got deaded."

"Deaded?"

Penny nodded and murmured one word: Cybermen. Luke nodded and told her she was safe. He also promised her that Sarah Jane was never going to leave her.

"Mum loves you so much, Penny. She's never going to leave you."

Sarah Jane walked in and almost hung back when she saw her children. She knew, however, that Penny's young body meant she needed to sleep.

"Come on, Penny, bed time." Sarah Jane called, holding out her hand.

Penny left Luke sitting on the chair and ran up to her mother, hugging her.

"Mummy. I don't want you to leave me." Penny whimpered and Sarah Jane moved upstairs.

.

Luke had gone back to bed. He wasn't asleep and he could tell Clyde wasn't asleep either. Luke had promised himself that he was going to stay awake so he could make sure that Clyde went to sleep. Then the door to his room creaked open. A figure crept in almost silently and moved towards where Clyde was lying. Luke gasped but decided to wait and think of a way to fight back. Little Clyde cat up. He looked at the approaching figure and didn't seem scared.

"Can I go and live with you and your mummy?" a voice asked, breaking the silence.

Luke recognised the voice. It was Penny.

"Why?" Clyde asked.

"I wet the bed and now my mummy won't want me." Penny whimpered.

Luke hadn't realised that Penny had been so frightened of being alone. Maybe that was why she had been so nervous of Clyde, another child threatening to take away her mother after she had recently lost her father figure in the Doctor. From what Luke had heard, the Doctor wasn't a hard man to impress but he was someone you desperately wanted to impress. Maybe letting a young child so desperate to please near a man like that wasn't the safest thing for all.

"Does your mummy know you wet the bed?" Clyde asked.

Luke watched as the dark figure of Penny nodded.

"Well, my mummy says it's not bad if you wet the bed. It's bad if you don't tell anyone."

"I had a nightmare." Penny admitted, sitting down on Clyde's mattress.

Clyde nodded and Luke heard Clyde say he had had one two.

"I know a song that my mummy sings when I'm scared. Doctor made it up when I was bitten by an alien worm."

Then Penny began to sing a gentle song. Luke recognised the tune. He had heard the song, the original before. It was 'I went to the animal fair'.

"I went to the alien fair.

The Moxx of Balhoon was there,

The big Judoons in the light of the moon,

We're giving them all a scare.

The Slitheen fell out of his bunk,

Hit the Dalek with a clunk,

The Gelth, they screamed

And the teleports beamed

And what became of the Autons, Autons Autons..."

Penny finished her song. Clyde had listened and he smiled. Penny shuffled towards him and was pulled into a strong hug. She smiled and hugged Clyde back.

Luke watched their dark figures with a grin on his face.


	21. Young part 2

Hey, I don't own the Sarah Jane adventures (except on DVD)

Luke woke up and saw Penny and Clyde were lying next to each other. They looked so peaceful and happy. Clyde's arm was around Penny's shoulder and there was a small distance between the two of them. Then Luke realised he had been woken up by a sound of panic.

"Luke, Penny's missing!" Sarah Jane called.

She ran into his room to check on him and Clyde and gasped. She smiled at them and walked over to her daughter.

"She must have come into here to sleep." Sarah Jane said. "It seems almost a pity to wake them."

Luke asked what the plan for that say was and Sarah Jane informed him that they needed to focus all their time and efforts on finding a cure for Penny and Clyde.

"How are we going to do this? We need to find a babysitter."

Sarah Jane sighed. She looked at her daughter.

"Who can we call? No one can be trusted with this apart from you, me and Maria and I need both of you to help me solve this."

"What about Alan? He knows how to look after kids and he knows about this stuff. We could trust him." Luke suggested with a smile.

.

Alan watched at Penny and Clyde as they sat at his kitchen table. The day before, he had watched the two of them avoid each other but they sat right next to each other, playing games. Sarah Jane was explaining that she was going to find a way of getting the two kids back to normal and that she needed help from Luke and Maria to do it.

"Are you sure you can look after them?" Sarah Jane checked, looking at Penny.

She moved towards her daughter and kissed the girl's cheek.

"Be good." she said. "Mr Jackson is a nice man. You'll like him."

Clyde looked at Sarah Jane, Luke and Maria. He clearly didn't want to be left with someone he didn't trust. He got up to go with Sarah Jane but she shook her head slowly. Clyde still seemed nervous.

"I have a job for you Clyde. I need you to keep Penny safe." Sarah Jane said. "Can you do that, Clyde?"

Clyde looked back at Penny nervously and he nodded. Luke and Maria went to the car and Sarah Jane said good-bye to both children. Alan looked at them and went to put the telly on. He grinned at both kids but neither of them seemed interested in the TVs. Alan got the paints out and Clyde was instantly interested. He began to paint. Penny didn't.

She studied Alan.

"Mummy left you to look after me."

"Yes, she did." Alan said.

Penny shrugged and then looked at the paints. Alan looked at her and asked her why she had made that statement.

"The last person who looked after me for mummy was Mrs Goodman. She's dead now. She was killed by aliens. Mummy takes me with her most of the time now." Penny said simply.

Alan watched her and felt a bit nervous.

.

"We've got a signal." Sarah Jane said slowly.

She was leading the way through the apartment block. Maria followed her with Luke in tow. Luke was on the phone with Alan, checking that Penny and Clyde were safe. Alan was telling Luke that both children were safe and Luke relaxed. Maria realised that Penny and Clyde were really the only children he had ever spent much time with. Sarah Jane walked into the main control room and paused.

"They where in here when they changed." she announced.

"Where are the aliens?" Maria asked, looking around as Luke got down to his normal job and began to try to understand what had happened to his sister and best friend.

Sarah Jane paused and realised that the aliens were missing.

.

The aliens made their way through the streets, keeping to the shadows. They were holding a large device in their clawed hands and the device was flashing, hunting down two children coated in artron energy.

.

Penny and Clyde were watching television. Alan watched them with a smile. He could remember them as young adults and he liked them as young adults but there was something very cute about them as children. They were well-behaved and, although Penny didn't always want to be close to Clyde or Alan, they got on well.

"There's something at the window." Clyde said. "A monster."

Alan looked at the window. He gasped. An insect like alien was standing there. It's many eyes were fixed on the two children who were sitting on the carpet in front of the TV.

"You two, go to the back door. I'm going to get you two up to the attic."

Penny got up quicker than Clyde. She helped the boy to her feet with a calm that Alan felt uncomfortable with. He knew Penny was that calm when she was a teenager but at the age of a child, the calm was wrong.

Penny lead the way to the back door and Clyde followed. Just as they went to open the door, two aliens appeared in the doorway. Penny pulled back, pushing Clyde behind her. The aliens walked in and chirped at the children. One of them grabbed Penny and the other reached towards Clyde.

"Leave them alone!" Alan shouted at the aliens when he realised what was happening.

He stared as the aliens turned to him and one of them hit him over the head. Alan fell to the floor and didn't move.

Penny watched in horror. She began to cry, screaming that she didn't want it to happen again. Clyde was so shocked by the child's sudden screaming he was easily grabbed. The two children were dragged from the room and a flare of light beamed out as they teleported away.

.

Sarah Jane, Maria and Luke watched as a sudden light filled the control room. The mother pulled both teenagers back as the light grew and she recognised it as a teleportation beam. They gasped as three insect like creatures appeared in the control room, holding Penny and Clyde as they struggled.

Maria gasped, worried about her friends but also worried that something bad had happened to her father. Sarah Jane looked at both teenagers and then at the aliens. She noticed her daughter was crying and overcome by her motherly instincts.

"Penny, everything is going to be alright." Sarah Jane said, walking forwards.

Only then did the aliens notice the unwanted humans.

"I just want to go home." the girl whimpered.

"So do we." one of the insect aliens chirped.

Sarah Jane looked at him and paused. It was almost as through she hadn't quite understood what he had said.

Luke pointed out that the machine the aliens had wasn't a teleport, it was a time machine. Then he realised. He looked at Maria and knew she was coming to a similar conclusion.

"You're stuck in the wrong time." he concluded.

One of the aliens nodded and looked at the children.

"We need to see what happened to the human spawn." one of the aliens said.

He was the alien holding Penny and released her. She ran to her mother's arms and buried her head into his mother's side.

"Alan got hurt, mummy. I want K-9!" Penny murmured.

Sarah Jane patted her daughter's back and looked at the alien holding Clyde. Clyde was released and he ran over to Sarah Jane, joining in the hug. Maria thought that it was a very cute scene. She smiled and Luke looked at the aliens.

"We need to make a deal. If you help me I could get you back home and hopefully cure Penny and Clyde." Luke announced, looking at the machine.

.

The aliens taught Luke to understand the controls of the machine while Maria and Sarah Jane looked after Penny and Clyde. One of the aliens was playing pat-a-cake with Penny but Clyde was hanging back, still a bit nervous of the aliens. Penny seemed completely at home and occasionally Luke would check on the others.

He had his hands in the machine, trying to reverse the polarity of the machine. He had tried to explain his theory to Penny but she had got confused so Maria had described it as him vacuuming up all the energy into the machine. She said it would change them back to normal but Penny and Clyde got very confused.

"Do we have to change them back?" Maria asked as Penny took Clyde's hand and lead him over to the alien she was playing with. "They're so cute."

Luke pulled back from the machine and grinned at the two children. He walked over to the tube that Penny and Clyde had touched before. He looked at the aliens and asked for some tape. The aliens frowned and looked confused. Luke sighed and slipped off his jacket, tying it around the break and muttering that he hoped it held.

"Okay, Penny, Clyde, I need you to stand near the machine but don't touch it. As soon as it starts absorbing the energy, use it to travel to your time. And stop using humans as test subjects." Luke said.

Penny looked at her mother and asked for a hug.

"Love you, mummy." she said as she wrapped her arms around her mother.

Sarah Jane smiled. Penny took Clyde's hand and bravely began to walk forwards. Then she paused and turned back, running to Luke. She gave him and hug and told him he was a very good big brother. Then she walked back to the machine and stood there. Sarah Jane watched as Penny kissed Clyde's cheek just before the machine lit up. The insect like aliens began to fade from view and Penny and Clyde was bathed in a white light. They let their hands slip apart. Sarah Jane, Maria and Luke were forced to look away.

When they looked back the machine was gone. Penny and Clyde, back in their teenaged forms, were laying on the ground side by side. Their clothes didn't fit them and Maria swung off a back pack.

"You might be off being all heroic but I'm practical." Maria smiled as she produced clothes for Penny and Clyde to change into when they woke up.

.

Clyde had gone back home and Penny and Luke were left sitting in the garden, staring up at the stars. Maria had gone home and Sarah Jane was helping her look after her father who had been only knocked unconscious.  
>"You weren't a bad child." Luke commented. "Am I really a good big brother?"<p>

Penny smiled and looked at Luke. She shifted towards her brother and told him he was a great brother.

"Am I a good sister?"

"Yes. When you're not wetting the bed."

Penny looked at her brother and blushed. Her and Clyde had been told what had happened when they had been children. She sighed but seemed happy.

"Are you ever going to let me live it down?"

Luke shook his head and grinned.


	22. Stolen Earth

Sarah Jane glanced around in horror. It had been eight in the morning and both of her children had been in the attic, just talking. Suddenly the whole house had shaken and Sarah Jane had lost sight of her children.

"Luke! Penny!" Sarah Jane called.

Both her children got unsteadily to their feet and looked around.  
>"Are you two alright?" Sarah Jane asked.<p>

"Yeah, we're fine." Penny said, moving towards her mother.

"Felt like some sort of cross-dimensional spatial transference."

"And you know how that feels how exactly?" Penny asked.

Her mother's attention was drawn to the window.  
>"It's dark." she said. "It was morning but now its night."<p>

"Maybe we were knocked out when we fell." Penny reasoned, moving towards the window.

"Mr Smith, I need you." Sarah Jane called.

Mr Smith came out with a fanfare and his usual hissing power.

"Can you stop giving that fanfare and just tell me what happened?"

"Sarah Jane, I think you should look outside. I think you'll find the visual evidence most conclusive."

Penny was looking out of the window and pointing up at the sky.

"He's right, mum." she said.

"But that's impossible." Sarah Jane said as she walked forwards.

The sky was filled with strange swirling lights that resembled the Northern lights. There were lots of planets, so close it looked like they could collide at any second.

.

"If the Earth's been moved," Luke reasoned, a few minutes later, "should we all be dead? Haven't we lost the sun? Maybe even our atmosphere?"

"You're being all gloomy." Penny moaned. "Just be happy we're still alive."

"I think you should call the others, warn them." Sarah Jane said.

"Okay."

Penny pulled out her phone and called Clyde. Luke called Maria. Maria was on holiday with her dad at that moment. She was in Cornwall. Clyde was at home with his mum.

Sarah Jane watched her children. She didn't have a good feeling about what was happening but there was no safe place to send her children if the whole world was falling apart.

"Sarah Jane, I have detected movement, observe." Mr Smith said, getting Sarah Jane's attention.

Both Penny and Luke finished their calls but then Penny's phone rang again. She answered it.

"Jack, what's up?"

"Twenty six planets." Jack answered.

"Very funny." Penny said.

"You called me why?"

"Can you get your massive super computer to scan the space above the Earth?"

"Why?" Penny said, looking at Mr Smith who was displaying a read out about spaceships that were heading into Earth.

"There's something in the middle. It's not a planet. It's man made."

"Okay."

Penny turned away from her phone and looked at Mr Smith, relaying what Jack had requested. Mr Smith ran the scans and came back with something.

"Wait, I've got another call." Jack said.

"Put it on conference." Penny requested, putting her phone on speaker so everyone could hear it.

"The reading seems to be artificial." Mr Smith reported, talking about the small circular dot that had appeared on his screen.

"It's some sort of space station sitting at the heart of the web." Luke commented. "And there are spaceships coming off it."

"I see Luke's still as clever as he was when I last met him."

"Three thousand miles and closing." a voice said over Jack's phone.

Mr Smith announced it a few seconds later.  
>"Hello." Martha's voice came through the phone. "Have you heard from the Doctor?"<p>

"No." Jack answered.

"No such luck." Penny said.

"Oh, Penny, you're on the line too."

"Yeah."

"How's Luke?"

"Well." Penny answered, looking at her brother.

He walked over to her.

"Where are you?" Jack asked Martha.  
>"New York." Martha said. "I've been promoted, medical officer on project Indigo."<p>

"I thought people wanted that shut down." Penny said with a snarl.

Project Indigo was a dangerous set of teleportation equipment that had been stolen from the Sontarans by UNIT during the ATMOS catastrophe.

"Have you got that thing working?" Jack asked.

"Indigo is meant to be top secret." Luke said.

"That would have been a good point if had not been said by the only other person on the phone who isn't a member of UNIT."

"Penny tells me lots." Luke told Jack.

"I am receiving communication from the inbound ships." Mr Smith said and Penny hung up the phone so she could listen. "It is a message for the human race."

"Put it through, let's hear it." Penny encouraged, walking forwards.

A cracked, hard metallic voice came through the speakers and echoed about the room. Penny and Sarah Jane shot each other terrified glances.

"Exterminate. Exterminate. Exterminate."

.

Sarah Jane had sat down and a tear was trickling down her cheek. She had pulled both her children into a strong motherly hug. Luke didn't understand why she was so terrified. Penny did.

"I am so sorry." Sarah Jane murmured to both her children.

"What are they?" Luke asked.

"They're Daleks." Penny answered as if it explained everything.

It didn't; Luke looked at her like she had gone insane. Penny took a deep breath and tipped her head back, looking at the ceiling for a few seconds.

"Daleks are murderers. They only see things in a way of Dalek and non-Dalek and everything non-Dalek needs to be destroyed. They have no emotions, they think it makes them stronger."

"Human harvest will commence." a Dalek barked over the comms as they all listened.

.

Penny's phone buzzed and she pulled away from Sarah Jane to answer the text.

"Geneeva just declared ultimate code red." Penny reported, going white.

Luke and Sarah Jane looked at her confused.

"Earth is now officially at war."

With that, Penny stood up. She pulled Luke to his feet and helped Sarah Jane up.

"We can't just sit around moaning, we've got a planet to save. Luke, call Maria and Clyde, tell them that if they leave their houses then, never mind the Daleks, they'll have me to worry about." Penny said, taking control.

"Let's see if we can't do something."

There was a shock wave as an alien ship began to fire at something nearby.

"Oh man." Luke murmured, bringing up Maria's number.

Sarah Jane began to work on Mr Smith.

"Bring up UNIT comms." Penny ordered.

"This is the Commander General of the United Nations calling the Dalek fleet, we surrender. Repeat, we surrender. The planet Earth surrenders."

"No, no, no, no, no." Penny moaned. "Mr Smith, let us speak to them."

"And draw them here, no!" Sarah Jane protested.

"But we need to contact someone."

Suddenly there was a noise from Mr Smith.

"What was that?" Luke asked.

"Probably more of our esteemed leaders giving in like grovelling servants." Penny spat.

"Can anyone hear me?" a voice crackled.

Luke rushed over and began to press buttons on Mr Smith. The screen began to change to a video call.

"Processing incoming subwave."

The image cleared itself up.

"Oh, Luke, you are a genius." Penny said with a beam.

They all stood in front of the screen, looking at the woman on it. Sarah Jane and Penny recognised her as Harriet Jones, a woman who had once been Prime Minster. She had gone up for re-election but a health scandal had cut that short. There was a rumour going around that the Doctor had started the health scandal after Harriet had destroyed a fleeing alien ship.

"Private Penelope Smith, stand to attention. You too, Captain Jack Harkness. Let's see if we can see each other." Harriet Jones said.

Suddenly the screen split into four sections so everyone could see each other. Three of the sections had images, the fourth had static.

"Sarah Jane, looking as lovely as ever. Great job with the Slitheen."

"Oh, my final contact is having trouble getting through. I'll boost the signal."

"Hello?" Martha Jones called.

"Martha!" Penny exclaimed. "You escaped from UNIT!"

"Only just." Martha agreed. "One second I was in Manhattan, the next I was at my house. Then the laptop goes and switches itself on and I'm getting this video call."

"Yes, that was me." Harriet revealed. "Let's do introductions."

"We all know each other." Penny pointed out.

.

Across London, Rose Tyler sat at the only laptop in the Noble's house. She was extremely annoyed that she couldn't join in the conversation but overjoyed when she saw four faces she recognised: Harriet, Jack, Sarah Jane and Penny. She wasn't surprised to see that they were banding together to fight the Daleks but she was very proud.

"Oh, you clever people.

.

"How did you find us?" Luke asked.

Harriet looked at Luke for the first time. He was the only person on the screen she hadn't got the network to look for. Sarah Jane quickly introduced her son to Harriet.

"Well, then." Harriet began. "The subwave network is a sentient piece of software programmed to seek out anyone and everyone who can help to contact the Doctor. It's completely undetectable. The Daleks can't hear a thing."

"And you invented it?" Sarah Jane exclaimed.

"I developed it." Harriet corrected. "It was created by the Mr Copper Foundation."

"But what we need right now is a weapon." Jack said. "Martha, they gave you something at UNIT. The Osterhagen key. What is that?"

"No. Martha, don't use it. You're not to, okay?" Penny snapped. "Go outside, put it in the trash and leave it there."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

Harriet snapped at Jack to forget about it. Luke turned to Penny and asked her. Penny looked at the screen, at Harriet to see what her reaction would be. She got a reluctant nod and Penny turned to her brother.

"The Osterhagen key is a weapon. It sets off a chain of twenty five nuclear war heads placed in strategic places under the Earth's crust. If it's detonated then it will rip the Earth apart. It was invented by a coward to inflict cowardice on the rest of the world even if they are still willing to fight."

"It was created in case human suffering became too great and there was no hope."

"There's always hope." Penny spat. "The Doctor has taught us there is always hope."

There was almost a stare off between the two UNIT agents. Penny against Martha. Penny condemning the group she had been forced into working for, Martha trying to support them.

"UNIT keeps it because it is the wrong thing to do." Penny added finally.

It was Jack who defused the tension.

"We need to fight against these Daleks, not against each other." Jack told them. "As much fun as this is to watch."

"You're trying to find the Doctor." Luke said, slowly, reminding everyone what they had been trying to do before the fight.

"Okay, yeah, my god-dad." Penny smirked, moving away from the screen.

She grabbed Luke by the shoulder and asked for her phone.

"They're going to be brain storming, help them. I need to make a call."

Luke handed Penny her phone with a frown. Penny walked to the back of the attic and dialled a number.

.

Clyde heard his phone rang. He and his mum were in the kitchen, hiding under the kitchen table. They had the curtains drawn so no one could see in and the lights off. Clyde grabbed his phone and saw it was Penny calling.

"Clyde, our relationship is built on overwhelming honesty and the fact that neither of us really care if we're about to die."

"Speak for yourself." Clyde joked with a weak smile. "I actually really care about that."

"You know what I mean." Penny told him.

There was a silence and a deep breath from Penny's side of the phone. For a minute Clyde thought she wasn't going to say anything.

"I'm terrified." Penny admitted after a few seconds. "Clyde, I don't think I can cope."

"Penny, just..."

"Please, listen. There are these things called Daleks and they have destroyed universes and killed millions and they don't know me but they know mum and they know the Doctor and Jack and... If they find us, me and Luke, we're..."

"Don't say it, Penny."

"We're going to die."

Clyde's hands began to shake. He felt a tear roll down his cheek. He knew people died doing what they did. He knew the horrors that happening while adventuring like they did. There had been however a small wall in his mind that Penny had never told him, never admitted to him, that she was in real danger, that she was completely terrified.

"Stay strong, okay? They're not going to find you. They're not and even if they do they've got weaknesses. They've got ways of being stopped, right? Sarah Jane's fought them before. She must know."

"Not even bullets stop them." Penny whispered. "And..."

Suddenly Clyde heard Luke's voice.

"Penny, we've got something."

There was a beat and then Penny's normal, relaxed voice broke through.

"Just give me a minute." Penny called back to her brother.

Clyde felt another tear fall.

_Why do you have to act so strong?_ Clyde thought.

"Clyde, I want you to know that if... If something happens, I love you." Penny told him.

Clyde was about to say something more when Penny hung up.

"Penny?" he called into the phone. "Penny?"

When he got no answer, he threw the phone across the kitchen and began to sob. His mother pulled him into a hug and asked him what was wrong. Clyde didn't tell her. He couldn't.

.

Penny was brought up to speed on the plan. They were going to boost the signal on Martha's phone so it would call the Doctor. They would use the Rift in Cardiff and Mr Smith in London to boost the signal and send it flying out into space and time.

"We're going to get the whole world calling the same number at the same time." Luke said proudly.

"Billions of phones, crying out an SOS." Penny said, to show she understood.

She smiled and congratulated her brother, pulling him into a hug.

Then an idea hit one of the Torchwood lot. Penny didn't know his name so she couldn't introduce him to her family. He didn't introduce himself.

"If we start transmitting, then the subwave network will become visible. The Daleks will know its here." he said.

Celebrations stopped as they all realised it was true.

"And they'll trace it back to me." Harriet said as if she had already thought it through. "But my life doesn't matter. Not if it saves the Earth."

Penny watched as Jack saluted Harriet and did the same. Harriet took it in without even showing how much it touched her.

"But there are people out there dying, on the streets." Harriet said. "And I'm not going to let that happen."

There was a pause as all of the companions and the two teenagers showed their respect through a moment of silence. Then Harriet drove them all into action.

.

Maria was with her father. They were in Cornwall in a hotel. They had heard about the attacks and were watching the news coverage on Alan's laptop. Maria was worried. She hadn't gotten a call from Luke for what seemed like ages and she didn't like to think about what could have stopped Luke from getting into contact with her.

Then her phone buzzed. She answered it and saw it was a text from Luke.

'_Call this number. 07700 90046. :)_'

Maria did as she was told and got her father to do the same.

.

Penny looked at her phone and thought about texting Clyde. She thought about it and then put her phone on the side. She couldn't bear to think about him anymore.

"Mister Smith, make that call." Sarah Jane instructed.

"Calling the Doctor." Mr Smith announced.

Penny and Luke began to work on regulating the systems of the alien computer. Their fingers raced across the buttons and they only pulled back when sparks began to fly out of the computer.

"Mister Smith now at two hundred percent."

"He's going to start needing extra power." Luke declared.

"Alien batteries!" Sarah Jane shouted and raced over to a large cardboard box.

"Luke, wire them up!"

Sarah Jane took a step back as another set of sparks flew out of the computer.

"Oh, come on, Doctor." she murmured.

"Harriet, they've found you." a voice said over the screens.

The voice had a Welsh accent so Sarah Jane guessed it was a member of Torchwood. Harriet paused for a few seconds but then continued to press buttons.

"I know. I'm using the network to shield you. All of you. Especially you, Miss Smith, you and your children."

"They'll kill you." Penny told her.

"I know." Harriet paused and there was a crash from her house.

Sarah Jane winced, knowing what was coming.

"The Doctor chose his companions well." Harriet told them. "It's been an honour."

Then three Daleks glided into the room with Harriet. Sarah Jane pulled her children away but couldn't look away herself. She felt a sense of dread as she watched the woman on the screen stand up and face the creatures.

"Exterminate."

Sarah Jane watched as three bolts of blue light streaked forwards and then Harriet's quarter of the screen turned into a thick layer of static.

"She's given Torchwood control." Jack reported.

"Give it to us." Luke tried.

Martha and Jack looked at the boy as if he was insane and Jack shook his head.

"Mr Smith has better processing power."

"He also has two children that, once he is found, the Daleks will not hesitate to kill." Martha pointed out.

Suddenly the static began to change. Penny was the first person who noticed it but she thought she had made a mistake. She didn't report it to anyone.

Then a familiar face appeared on the screen. Penny gasped and grinned.

"Doctor!" she cheered.

Jack and Martha began demanding information about where he was.

"It's the Daleks." Jack reported to the Doctor.

"They're taking people up to their spaceship." Sarah Jane told him.

They watched as the Doctor scanned the screen, watching them all. He began to name everyone and when his eyes well on Luke, he asked who he was.

"This is my brother, Luke. You'll love him. He's a genius." Penny said.

"Penny! Oh you're brilliant. Look at you brilliant people." he murmured.

They all happily began to celebrate but Sarah Jane picked up on the Doctor missing Rose. She remembered Rose. She had liked Rose by the end of their battle against the Krillitanes.

Then the screen began to go fuzzy. Luke rushed forwards and began to press buttons to try and stop the screen from fading.

.

Maria's phone rang. She saw it was Penny.

"Hey." Penny said simply.

"What on Earth is going on?" Maria asked.

"Daleks. We're dealing with these creatures called Daleks but its okay because the Doctor's here." Penny assured her friend.

Maria looked at her dad and smiled, telling him they were safe. That help had arrived.

"Um... We're working on contacting the..."

"Your voice is different and yet its arrogance is unchanged." a voice crackled over the phone.

The voice was sinister. It had had the effect of silencing Penny.

"No. But he's dead." Maria heard Sarah Jane breathe before Penny hung up.

.

They listened to the exchange of words between Davros and the Doctor in silence. They didn't want to speak.

Then Mr Smith reported that the TARDIS was landing in vector seven. Sarah Jane looked at her two children and then at the computer. She grabbed her bag and headed towards the door.

"But there are Daleks out there!" Luke protested.

"Mum, you can't just leave us."

Sarah Jane studied them and moved towards them, pulling each of them into a strong motherly hug.

"Now you take care of each other, okay? And Mr Smith, take care of them. Don't let them do anything stupid."

"I will protect the children." Mr Smith said.

"Mum, you can't le..."

"I love you, remember that." Sarah Jane said and then left.

Penny and Luke rushed to the window and watched as their mother drove off.

"She's gone to find the Doctor." Penny murmured. "We should be with her."

.

Penny had watched as their mother had driven off into the darkness. A deep pit had grown in her stomach as she watched with horror. She looked at Luke.

Both teenagers were sitting on the steps, watching the Torchwood group on the screens. Francine, Martha's mother, was also there. She was talking, not being much use. She did, however, not want to be quiet because it would mean Penny and Luke would be all by themselves.

Then the Torchwood people began to panic.

"What's happening?" Penny asked, snapping into action.

"A Dalek ship has locked onto our location." Gwen said. "And Jack is getting ready to teleport."

Penny looked at Luke as he got nervously to his feet.

"Good luck, Jack." Penny said with a childish salute.

Jack offered the teenagers a salute and told them not to do anything that he would do. Penny grinned but felt very upset that he was going. She knew Jack couldn't die but it didn't mean he couldn't suffer and be tortured.

Then Jack was gone.

There was a pause before a storm of 'exterminate's came through the screen. Penny turned to Luke and sighed.

.

Sarah Jane was driving along, trying to remember the exact way to the sector the TARDIS was in. She turned a corner and a row of three Daleks blocked her path. She managed to stop before she slammed into them.

"All human transport is forbidden!" one of the Daleks barked at Sarah Jane.

She knew what breaking Dalek rules meant and it meant death.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know!" Sarah Jane shouted.

The three Daleks began to bark "EXTERMINATE!"

Sarah Jane was only happy that neither of her children had come with her.

.

Penny and Luke watched as Gwen and Ianto, the two Torchwood agents who had introduced themselves while Francine had been talking, grabbed guns.

"Guns don't work on Daleks." Penny told them.

"Well, I'm going to go out fighting. Just like Owen, just like Tosh." Gwen told them. "How about you?"

She asked Ianto the question with conviction. He nodded and agreed. Penny and Luke gave them both nods as the Dalek blasted their way in.

"Wait! Give us control of the sub-wave!" Luke shouted. "If the Daleks get control they could destroy the system or use it to track the Doctor's friends down."

Torchwood told them that they weren't going to even consider it. Gwen looked at them with a frown.

"There's already a Dalek locking onto your location. I think Davros has sent them after your mother."

"But she's not here!" Luke moaned.

Ianto looked at Gwen just before they went off to fight the Dalek.

"I'm so sorry." Gwen told the two teenagers as they disappeared from the screen.

Penny turned to Luke and closed her eyes.

"We can survive this." she said but it sounded like she was lying. "We can."

.

The Daleks went to exterminate Sarah Jane. Suddenly a light flared up behind them. Two figures carrying large guns teleported in and fired before the three Daleks even knew what was happening.

Sarah Jane looked at the smouldering piles of Dalek that were left. She climbed out of her car as she saw someone she recognised.

"Mickey!" Sarah Jane shouted with a smile.

Mickey grinned at her and kept his gun raised.

"Us Smiths gotta stick together." he said. "Now please tell me that Penny hasn't been taken by those things."

"She's at home." Sarah Jane said. "With her brother."

Mickey's grin grew at the idea that Penny was safe. Then the other hero rushed around to join them. Sarah Jane didn't recognise her.

"Jackie Tyler." the woman said. "Now where on Earth is my daughter?"

.

Penny and Luke paced the attic, pooling all they knew about Daleks. Francine was helping, telling them what he knew from Martha. They knew that the eye stalk was the most vulnerable part of the Dalek's armour and that the bit they could see was the armour. They worked out that there was a mutant inside which was the actual Dalek and they knew that all Daleks were geniuses.

"Okay, so what we've got is a teenaged sports star who is the Doctor's god-daughter, a teenaged genius, a super computer and a handful of alien tools against one of the galaxy's greatest killing machines." Penny summed up.

Putting it like that gave them a bit of hope. The Doctor had probably saved the universe with less.

Francine began to tell them that it wasn't right. She told them that they were just teenagers and that they should be curled up in bed somewhere.

"Mr Smith, where is the closest Dalek?" Penny asked.

She didn't really want to know but she didn't want to listen to Francine's comments.

"The nearest Dalek is two streets away and closing in." Mr Smith said, bringing up a map with a red dot to show the Dalek.

Luke fished into his pocket and called up Maria.

.

Maria enjoyed listening to the sound of Luke's voice. She was overjoyed nothing had happened to him.

"Luke, what's happening? Where's Sarah Jane?"

Luke paused and explained that Sarah Jane was gone. He paused and then told her that she needed to stay inside.

"There's going to be a Dalek on the street and you just need to stay inside. Don't approach it, don't attack it. Just let it be." Luke said.

Maria began to panic. She could guess what the Dalek was after but she also knew that Luke wouldn't want her help.

"Good bye." Luke said. "And um... Make sure mum says safe if me and Penny don't."

Then he hung up. Maria shifted up and made her way over to the window. She looked out and saw a small copper coloured creature making his way towards number 13.

.

Sarah Jane and her two new companions made their way through the streets. They saw a group of Daleks standing around the TARDIS. There was a sudden spark of excitement at the idea of finding the TARDIS but they ducked behind a van due to the Daleks.

Suddenly the TARDIS was enclosed in a large beam of light and lifted up. The Daleks were taking the TARDIS up to the crucible.

They watched in horror as the TARDIS was taken. Sarah Jane turned to the others.

"Those teleport things. Can we use them? If they've taken the Doctor up to the Dalek spaceship than that's where we need to go." Sarah Jane decided.

"It's not a teleport. It's a dimension jump. This things rips a hole in the fabric of space." Mickey remarked, holding up his yellow teleport disk.

Sarah Jane continued to press on to see if they could use them but she was told that they took thirty minutes to recharge.

"Then put down your guns." Sarah Jane said.

"What?"

"If you're carrying a gun, they'll shoot you dead." Sarah Jane said.

She began to walk out of their hiding place. She knew she wouldn't have risked it if Penny and Luke had been with her.

"Daleks, I surrender." Sarah Jane announced.

"She's mad!" Mickey told Jackie as he watched her putting down her gun.

"But if they've got the Doctor then they've got Rose." Jackie said.

She walked out and raised her hands, telling the Daleks that her and Mickey surrendered too. Mickey sighed and kissed his gun before dumping it in the street.

.

Luke and Penny heard the front door explode in a violent bang. They looked at each other. There was a dodgy barricade built across the door to the attic but they both knew it wouldn't be able to withstand a Dalek attack. The two teenagers were armed with sports bats, hoping that at least one of them would be able to hit the Dalek's eye stalk and smash it up.

"Whoever smashes the eye stalk gets the last slice of chocolate cake in the fridge." Penny smirked.

Luke laughed and told her that he would win.

"And what do we do if we destroy the eye stalk?" Luke asked.

"Blind man's buff?" Penny said.

From behind the door, they heard the whirl of the Dalek's motors as it came to a stop at the top of the stairs.

.

Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie ended up in a large room on the Dalek spaceship. The Daleks were saying something about testing but Sarah Jane didn't mind. They were one step closer to the Doctor. She realised they were in some sort of holding area. It wasn't very good.

One woman in the crowd of people around them fell over and a Dalek began to bark at her. Sarah Jane saw a door and got Mickey's attention. She opened it with her sonic and Mickey ran up to up. She looked around for Jackie and saw Jackie was standing right near the woman and couldn't get away without being noticed.

Sarah Jane ducked into the side corridor and closed the door. Mickey began to tell her that they couldn't just leave Jackie in there. However a Dalek glided in front of the door and Mickey realised in horror that they couldn't get to Jackie safely.

Jackie heard a noise above her and looked up. She gasped as she saw a large machine above her. It began to power up, spinning faster and faster.

Jackie looked at the woman with her and sighed. She could only guess the thing above her had something to do with the twenty-seven planets and she guessed that it was some sort of weapon.

From behind the door, a series of bleeps sounded in the air. Mickey looked down at his teleporter and realised that thirty minutes had passed since his last teleport. It meant the same for Jackie. He raced over to the door's window. He began to shout at Jackie to use the dimension jump.

Jackie reached into her pocket and produced the yellow disk. She looked at the woman and told her she was really sorry. She then disappeared and reappeared behind the door. Mickey pulled her into a strong hug. Sarah Jane kept looking out of the window. She watched as the machine began to power up and the people began to dissolve into atoms.

.

The barricade exploded with a flash of light. Penny and Luke both moved back and raised their bats. The Dalek glided into the room and surveyed them both.

"Mr Smith, containment vortex!" Penny shouted before the Dalek could say exterminate.

She grabbed Luke and got him over to the Mr Smith's controls.

"You two, geniuses, keep it from getting out." Penny instructed.

"What?" Luke asked but he had already begun working.

Penny smiled slightly, looking at the Dalek that was trapped in the containment vortex.

"Now we've got to hope this works."

.

Sarah Jane, Mickey and Jackie were moving through the corridors, trying to ignore the ever present threat of Daleks. They paused for a few seconds and Sarah Jane slipped out her phone. She found a photo of her two children and smiled at it. She wondered what they were up to.

Suddenly there was a sound running through the vents. One of the vent covers exploded open.

"Just my luck. I climb through two miles of ventilation shafts, chasing life signs on this thing," Jack said, tapping his vortex manipulator. "And who do I find? Mickey Mouse."

"You can talk, Captain Cheesecake." Mickey growled.

Soon the two men pulled each other into a hug. They hugged for a few seconds and then pulled back.

He noticed Sarah Jane and her lack of children and frowned.

"If those Dalek thugs did anything to either of them, I'll destroy them all myself." Jack told Sarah Jane.

She assured him that they were on Earth and safe.

.

Penny looked at the Dalek and then at Luke. His hands were flying over the computer keys, making up new combinations to stop the Dalek from escaping.

"Come on, Luke." Penny urged studying the flickering blue lense of the Dalek's eye stalk.

.

Sarah Jane reached into her pocket. She knew that if she stopped the Daleks then her children would be safe and she would do it, no matter the cost.

"I've brought this." Sarah Jane said, producing a sparkling gem.

It was attached to a golden chain and looked like a diamond.

"It was given to me by a Verron Soothsayer. He said 'this is for the end of days'."

Jack gasped at the sight of it, recognising the piece of equipment.

"Is that a Warp Star?" Jack murmured.

Mickey asked what a Warp Star was.

Jack gave an explanation that reminded Sarah Jane of Luke and what she had left behind in the attic.

"It's an explosion, Mickey. An explosion waiting to happen."

.

Luke continued to work when he heard a rush of air from behind him. Penny was giving him updates so he could keep working against the Dalek but also know what was happening.

"Oh man that's gross." Penny murmured. "Um... Luke, I think you can stop."

Luke stopped and turned. The Dalek armour had opened up, revealing a blue skinned alien squid like thing. It had one eye which it trained on the two children.

"Mr Smith, as soon as I tell you, drop the containment vortex and blast it." Penny instructed without hesitation.

Luke looked at it and realised that the creature was a murderer. They couldn't tell how many people it had killed but if they didn't destroy it then there was a possibility that it would send a message to the Daleks, instructing that the whole of Bannerman road was destroyed.

Luke and Penny ducked into hiding and Penny said now.

Mr Smith's blaster was revealed and he aimed it at the Dalek. There was a pause as the containment vortex dissolved away and them a red light zoomed between the alien computer and the Dalek. The Dalek exploded.

Shaking from nerves and excitement, Luke got up. His fingers felt weak as he realised he had been working for a long time at high speed.

"How did you know it would work?" Luke asked Penny, understanding her idea.

Containment vortexes drain power from weapons and therefore the Dalek's armour. To have any hope of attacking the teenagers after the power had been drained the Dalek would have needed to open up it's shell. Daleks however were geniuses and to stop it from getting out, Penny had needed to use Luke and Mr Smith's combined intelligence. It had been a risky plan.

Penny didn't answer Luke's question so he realised that she hadn't known if it would work at all.

"You know what I want." Penny said with a grin. "Ice cream. I'll go get some, you rest."

.

The Doctor and Rose were sealed in containment vortexes in the Dalek's vaults. They had just watched Martha make her bargin when another screen was flashed up. It showed Captain Jack, Mickey, Jackie and Sarah Jane.

The Doctor began to worry at the lack of children. He had to hope they were safe somewhere but if those Daleks had done anything to hurt them then he would destroy every trace of the Daleks.

"Don't send in your goons or I'll set this thing off." Jack said, holding up the Warp Star.

The Daleks recognised it instantly. So did the Doctor.

"I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe. This thing blows up, so does the crucible."

"You can't. Where did you get a Warp Star?" the Doctor asked.

Sarah Jane said it was from her. She told them that they had seen what happened to the prisoners and they couldn't let it happen to anyone else.

"Impossible, that face." Davros remarked. "After all these years."

"Sarah Jane Smith, remember?" Sarah Jane spat.

Davros paused and then smiled.

"Do you, by chance, have a Xylok in your attic?" he asked. "We were scanning for alien technology and locked onto a house as such. Two teenaged occupants. We sent one Dalek. Would you like to see what happened?"

He flicked a switch and footage of the attic, taken from Mr Smith's screen, appeared. The Doctor grinned as he saw the remains of a Dalek and two teenagers sitting nearby, eating bowls of ice cream.

"Oh man, I think I'm going to throw up." Penny said, clearly seeing Davros on the screen. "Our Dalek friend was a looker compared to him."

"No matter, they will die when the reality bomb is unleashed."

Sarah Jane was overjoyed that her children were safe. Renewed by the sudden victory, she made a threat.

"You let the Doctor go or, this Warp Star, it gets opened."

Jack grinned.

"I'll do it. Don't imagine I wouldn't."

Rose couldn't help but smile at how amazing everyone was being. She realised however that the Doctor looked ashamed. His head was hanging.

"The Doctor's soul is revealed. See him, see the heart of him.

"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun but, the truth is Doctor, you take ordinary people and you fashion them into weapons. Even the descendants. Behold your Children of Time, transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor, you made this."

The Doctor tried to defend his friends but it was hard. Then Davros tricked the Doctor into remembering everyone who died, everyone he had lost.

Then two of the screens were bathed in a flash of light. The Doctor's companions were teleported into the crucible but Penny and Luke were left standing in the attic.

"Say goodbye to the children." Davros instructed. "I think they, the Dalek destroyers, deserve to die on their home planet."

.

Penny and Luke looked at each other as they put down their ice creams and ran to Mr Smith's now clear screen.

"He can't do that. No!"

"What do we do?"

"Just sit tight and... Um... Ice cream?" Penny answered.

.

Sarah Jane was left kneeling in the vault. She was very happy that her children were still alive and slightly thankful that Davros didn't want her children on the crucible. The Daleks were powering up their reality bomb.

The Doctor began to shout at Davros to stop, at every single Dalek there to stop.

Suddenly a grinding noise filled the air and the TARDIS appeared. Everyone looked at the blue box that appeared. Suddenly, running out of the TARDIS, came other Doctor. He ran forwards holding a gizmo made out of random objects and went to fire it at Davros. Davros raised one hand and fired at the man. The Doctor was thrown back and sealed in a containment vortex. All eyes were on him, looking for an explanation.

Donna burst from the TARDIS and ran forwards, grabbing the gizmo. She went to point it at Davros but he reacted once again and Donna was sent flying backwards. She disappeared behind a section of machinery and no one could see her.

"Donna!" the Doctor began to shout desperately.

Sarah Jane felt sorry for the Doctor. He had to watch all his friends in trouble.

The gizmo was destroyed and both Doctor looked hopeless. They seemed terrified that there was no way of stopping the Daleks.

The countdown for the reality bomb got lower and lower until an alarm sounded. Everyone looked around but it was Sarah Jane who saw Donna first.

Donna was standing by the machinery she had been fired behind, her fingers racing across it.

"Closing all Z-neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop. That button there." Donna grinned in her normal rough way.

The Doctor began to protest about Donna's technology skills. Donna's hands raced across the keys, stopping Davros from shooting her the halting the Dalek weaponry.

The two Doctors were talking about how it was even possible that Donna had become such an expert. Sarah Jane, Mickey, Jackie, Jack and Martha got to their feet, knowing that the Daleks couldn't hurt them. Donna freed everyone from their containment cells and the Doctors raced towards Donna to help her.

The Daleks began to spin as the three worked on the controls and, laughing, the others began to force the creatures into corners and out of the way. Jack raced over to the TARDIS and opened the doors.

"We've got twenty seven planets to send home. Activate magnetron." Donna said as she abandoned the controls.

Jack produced two large guns from the TARDIS as Davros began to protest. He threw a gun to Mickey and they hurried over to him, taking aim.

Sarah Jane turned to Rose with a smile.

"Nice to see you." she said, calmly.

"Yeah, you two. Penny's looking well. She's grown."

"She's getting more mature as well. She's a great sister to Luke."

The two Doctors and Donna were sending back the planets. Clom, Adipose 3, the Lost Moon of Poosh all sent back to their homes.

Then Rose asked what was going on. Donna began to explain while the Doctors kept working.

"He poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand. I touched the hand, and he grew out of that but that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head till the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros! Part human, part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind." Donna explained.

Sarah Jane began to get some idea of what was happening.

"So there's three of you?"

There was a pause as Dalek Caan was revealed to be a traitor. He had wanted to make sure that the Doctor Donna was created.

"Heads up!" Jack shouted as a red Dalek began to descend.

It was the leader of the Daleks and it went to shoot Davros. He ended up shooting the control panel and Jack aimed his gun at the creature. He shot the Dalek as it descended.

The Doctor began to moan.

"Oh no. We've lost the magnetron. And there's only one planet left. Oh, guess which one. But we can use the TARDIS."

"Earth's holding stable." the newer Doctor said as his older counterpart disappeared into the TARDIS.

He looked at the other companions and then his eyes fell on Caan.

"I have seen the end of everything Dalek and you must make it happen, Doctor." Caan said.

The new Doctor paused and began to think everything through.

"He's right. Because with or without a reality bomb, the Dalek Empire is big enough to slaughter the cosmos. They've got to be stopped."  
>Donna told him to wait but the new Doctor refused. He continued to race his fingers over the controls. Suddenly Daleks began to explode. The Doctor ran out and began to shout at the other Doctor about what he had done.<p>

.

Penny and Luke looked at the Dalek as the armour began to flash.

"I think we should get back." Penny said.

They ducked behind the sofa and the Dalek exploded. Then they got up and began to look around the attic.

"I hope mum doesn't mind tidying up." Luke said.

.

"Now get in the TARDIS!" the Doctor ordered to his newer counterpart. "Everyone, inside. Run!"

They all ran in with the newer Doctor holding the door open for them. The world continued to to shake as they run it. The crucible was being destroyed. The Doctor offered safety to Davros but he refused completely.

The TARDIS began to dematerialise as the crucible began to explode.

.

As they all stood in the TARDIS, Sarah Jane asked about what they were meant to do about the Earth.

"It's stuck in the wrong part of space." she reminded him.

"I'm on it!" the Doctor said, running over to his screen. "Torchwood hub, this is the Doctor. Are you receiving me?"

Gwen appeared on the screen and told them she could hear them.

"Is Jack there?" she asked.

"Can't get rid of him." the Doctor grinned. "Now Torchwood, I want you to open that Rift Manipulator. Send all the power to me."

Sarah Jane watched as Ianto came into view and began to work.

"What's that for?" Sarah Jane asked.

"It's a tow rope." the Doctor said, turning to Sarah Jane. "Lets check on the family."

He began to work on the screen and shifted to a picture of the attic. Penny and Luke got up and gasped.

"Mum!" Penny shouted as she saw her mother on the screen.

"Oh Penny, Luke, you Dalek busting duo! What's the computer called?"

"Mr Smith." Luke answered.

"Now, Mr Smith, I want you to harness the Rift power and loop it around the Tardis. You got that?" the Doctor said.

.

Mr Smith told the Doctor he might not be able to manage it. He needed the TARDIS' base code numerals. The Doctor sighed, knowing it would take a while. Penny shook her head and ran to the safe. She opened the safe and called into it.

"K-9!" she called.

The robot dog materialised in the attic and moved around so he was facing Penny.

"K-9, give Mr Smith the TARDIS' base code." Penny instructed with a smirk at Luke.

.

Sarah Jane watched as the Doctor raced around the TARDIS controls. He explained how a TARDIS was meant to have six pilots and how he now had six pilots. He gave them each a job to do and Sarah Jane was told to hold down a button. She held it down and smiled at the others as they flew Earth back home.

The Doctor, his newer copy and Donna rested back happily. Then they reached the home of the planet. The TARDIS was released and everyone began to celebrate. There was hugging and dancing and jumping and cheering. Sarah Jane was hugging Jack but Donna pulled her from his arms so she could hug him.

.

The TARDIS appeared in a sunny park. Celebrations echoed around the air and people were dancing in the park. Sarah Jane walked out and turned to the Doctor.

"You know, you act like such a lonely man. But look at you, you've got the biggest family on Earth."

The Doctor pulled her into a hug. Then Sarah Jane pulled back.

"I've got to go. I'm not sure how well they're coping. It's a long story."

She turned to go and then she looked back.

"You need to come for Penny's birthday." she told him.

The Doctor nodded and Sarah Jane hurried off.

.

Sarah Jane picked her way through the destroyed front door. She frowned but made her way up the stairs. She could hear voices other than her children. She smiled when she realised it was Clyde and Maria.

.

She walked into the attic and saw Penny and Clyde were sitting at the back of the attic. They weren't talking but they were snuggling close together. Sarah Jane wasn't sure what had occurred between them but it didn't seem to cause too much of a problem. Luke and Maria were exploring the Dalek's systems. Mr Smith was buzzing away in the corner.

Sarah Jane smiled at the group. She walked forwards and looked at the Dalek.

"What are we going to do with this thing?" she asked.

"We're going to teleport it into K-9's black hole." Luke said, looking at Mr Smith.

They moved back as Mr Smith teleported the Dalek into the safe. Sarah Jane looked at them and pulled Luke into a hug.

"I am so proud of you two." she told her children.

Maria smiled and told them that they were all proud of them. Penny grinned and took Clyde's hand.

"We should get take-out." Penny said.

"I don't think one will be open." Maria answered.

Clyde stood up and said he would make something. Penny and Luke went with him, not wanting to spend any longer in the attic. Sarah Jane looked at Maria.

"They called me up when the Dalek came. Well, Luke did. It was just a warning. I should have come over. I should have been there to help them."

Sarah Jane shook her head and told her that it didn't matter. Maria and her went to leave the attic and Sarah Jane looked back.

"I'm going to have to get two new doors." Sarah Jane sighed.


	23. Child's play part 1

I'm sorry this took so long!

Still don't own!

Penny and Luke were sitting in the attic, having a resting after dealing with the Daleks. They were meant to be cleaning up but no one could blame them for lazing around. Sarah Jane was out, buying two new doors, so the two teenagers were using the excuse of a traumatic experience to have a rest. They were watching as Mr Smith relayed information about the crucible and the Medusa Cascade and the news reports that were occasionally popping up. That was when an ancient grinding noise filled the air. They both smiled and turned.

"So, Penny, I've picked up the cake from the chief, your dress from the dress maker and I've checked and the groom and best man have not been replaced by aliens – like last time." the Doctor said, walking out of the TARDIS. "And all in five minutes..."

"Hello." Luke said.

"Hello."

"Sorry but, just trying to work out which time zone I'm in, what was the last alien you dealt with?"  
>"Daleks, Medusa Cascade." Penny answered.<p>

"Okay-dokay." the Doctor said.

He was dressed in a smart pinstriped suit and had spiky hair. He smiled at Penny and Luke and then frowned.

"No, that's a horrible saying." the Doctor muttered. "Never saying that again. Yeah. I'm going to have to hide the Um... Special occasion stuff that is out and then... Where's your mother?"

"Buying doors." Luke answered with a nod to the missing door of the attic.

"And she left you two all alone? No! You must be really bored and I'm lonely so you might as well come with me. Just one trip. I know you two are up to it."

The Doctor's words poured out in his childish way and he offered the teenagers a grin.

"You want us to travel with you!" Penny squealed.

"Calm down, Penny. It's not like it's your first time. Only it is for you, isn't it?" the Doctor said slowly.

Penny nodded and Luke looked at her and then the Doctor. He hooked Penny's arm and pulled her back. The Doctor used it as a chance to hide the 'special occasion stuff' he had out all over the TARDIS.

"I don't think Mum will want us to go with him. She said that travels with him are dangerous."  
>"Luke, since you were activated, you've fought Slitheen, Daleks, a Gorgon, Bane and all other manner of aliens, nearly been drafted into an alien war and been in more danger than most people will ever be in." Penny pointed out. "What's travelling in time added to the list?" Penny asked.<p>

"A lot." Luke replied. "Personally, if this doesn't kill us, I think Mum will."

"Great, because us Smith kids are the best in the world at surviving people trying to kill us."

Penny turned Luke back to the Doctor and pushed him into the TARDIS. Then she turned to the Doctor and looked into his old eyes.  
>"Why are you helping at my wedding? What about Luke or Clyde or Maria?"<p>

"You know I was talking about the Groom and Best man?" the Doctor asked.

Penny nodded.

"Yeah, well, they're helping them or something."

"Is that a lie?" Penny inquired with a smirk.

"If I had answered truthfully then the universe would have imploded. Now get in the TARDIS. We don't have all the time in the world!"

The two disappeared inside and the TARDIS faded away.

.

The room was silent. The little girl dressed in a long white night gown stood at the window. She was staring out at the scene in the garden, lit by the setting sun. A rather round young woman was hanging out clothes on the washing line. She was the family's maid.

The girl's nanny sat on the girl's bed. She was dressed in a long flowing black dress and had a black apron on her front. The nanny's concerned green eyes were focused on the girl's wavy brown hair as if she was trying to red the girl's thoughts.

Then the girl began to sing.

"Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye..."

The nanny's head snapped up. She hurried over to the girl and turned the girl so she could face her. She told her to stop, that it wasn't right.

"Elizabeth, people are getting hurt." the nanny whimpered.

The girl didn't stop.

"Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie."

The nanny's eyes widened. She stood up and quickly corrected the folds of her long dress. She began to hurry out of the girl's room. The girl turned back to the maid in the garden.

.

"When the pie was opened the birds began to sing."

The nanny hurried into the kitchen. She looked around and saw a large pie in the centre of the wooden work bench. It had been freshly baked.

Four cooks stood in the kitchen.

"She's singing again." the nanny said.

The looks of confusion on the faces of the cooks evaporated in seconds.

"About what?" one of the more senior members of the kitchen staff asked/

"Pie." the nanny said, looking at the pie.

Already the crust was beginning to vibrate.

.

"When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing."

.

The doors to the kitchen were pulled closed. The kitchen was empty. Food was left cooking and the fire was left burning. Half made food rested on the side.

The pie's crust exploded upwards as if a great force had punched it's way out. A pack of bird like creature flew into the air. They were black and leathery with beak like snouts. In these snouts and overhanging over the bottom were rows of needle sharp teeth. They were the size of birds but flew in such a collective group that they could have all been the same creature.

They flew around the kitchen, knocking over pots and pans and smashing into foods. They found the glass windows that lead to the gardens and a flew began to beat their snouts against them until the glass smashed.

.

"Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?"

.

Elizabeth was in her room. She was still at the window. Her eyes were fixed on the maid in the garden.

.

"The king was in the counting house, counting out his money."

.

Elizabeth's father sat at his desk, sorting through the money coming into his estate and out of it. He had clear view of the kitchen windows but missed the bird like creatures as the poured out of the windows.

.

"The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey."

.

Elizabeth's mother was entertaining the house guests. On the table in front of her was an assortment of foods. The laughter of herself and two house guests rung out happily and stopped them from hearing the persistant squawking that sounded from outside.

.

"The maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes."

.

The maid picked up her basket. She looked up to the window and saw Elizabeth standing there. The girl was staring at her. The maid shook her head and went to go back inside. She could hear a funny noise sounding and it made her feel uncomfortable.

She looked up at the girl and the girl was still staring. That made it worse.

The maid turned. She screamed as a wave of birds flew towards her.

.

"Along came a blackbird and pecked off her nose."

.

Elizabeth felt sick. She turned away and covered her eyes, blocking out the screams of the maid. She picked up her doll and began to cradle it back and forth in her arms. She didn't want to hear the maid. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she just wanted to be safe. A long formed in her mouth and her mind reached out, internally screaming out for someone to come.

"Miss Polly had a dolly who was sick, sick, sick, so she called for the Doctor to come quick, quick, quick..."

.

"Okay you two, I'm promising you sun, sand and surfing." the Doctor said as he strode out of the TARDIS. "Just don't get too much of a tan, we're trying to hide this from your mum."

He strode out into the middle of a forest and frowned; Penny and Luke joined him quickly.

"Not much danger of that." Penny remarked with a sigh.

The Doctor frowned and made his way back into the TARDIS.

"We were meant to be on Avaren, a planet where the land masses form a spiral so you're no more than a hundred metres from a beach at all times. This isn't Avaren." Luke reported, taking the definition of the planet from the Doctor's words as he had told them about it.

"Still, alien planet." Penny said, grinning at her brother. "Even with the Doctor's dodgy driving."

"Alien time too." Luke added, smiling.

"My driving was not dodgy, an energy source locked onto the TARDIS and..."

Penny rolled her eyes and told the Doctor it didn't matter. She wanted to do some exploring. The Doctor smiled and closed the door to the TARDIS. He told the two of them the rules he had, not really expecting them to listen.

Then they began to stroll through the dense forest. It was a nice walk and there seemed to be a path of flattened undergrowth for them to pick their way through.

"This is the planet Quiles. It was discovered in the year 4017 and it's pretty much like

your home but it's nicer. The human settlers decided that they would settle on a historic time period because it would be better for the planet." the Doctor said, walking through the trees.

There seemed to be a path running through the trees and they stopped. A group of people were walking down the path and a large coffin was being carried by them. The Doctor paused and Luke stared slightly, not really understanding what was going on. Penny looked down at the ground as the group went past.

"Who do you think it was?" Penny asked as the trio turned onto the path and began to head off in the other direction.

After a few minutes of walking, they broke through a tree line and the Doctor grinned. A large mansion was in front of him. It was a fine house made of wood and large carvings. The Doctor knocked on the large wooden door and turned to Penny and Luke.

"The humans here tend to be peace loving. They gave up technology to protect the planet. I'm sure they'll let us stay until you two have had a proper look around." the Doctor told his two young companions. "They're nice people."

The door was flung open and two men stood there. One was in his early twenties with black hair and a shaking hand. The other was older with a crop of white hair and the stance of a seasoned hunter.

"Whoa." the Doctor said. "What's this for? What's...?"

"Speak your names and your intent." the older man snapped, not worried that there were two children in his sights.

"I'm the Doctor. These are my nephew and niece, Luke and Penny. We're just looking."

Penny and Luke shifted uncomfortably but trusted what the Doctor was doing.

"A doctor?" the younger man said.

Luke could hear the fear in the man's voice. The young man clearly didn't want to be there. He looked like one of the young men who worked in the news agents.

"She's been singing 'bout a doctor. Just turn and go 'fore I have to shoot you and the kids."

The older man had been silent. He paused as if he was really seeing Penny and Luke for the first time. He looked at the younger man and got him to lower his weapon.

"Too many people have died for us to start shooting unarmed kids and a doctor could be useful if these things keep going on." the older man said.

He moved out of the way and let the Doctor, Luke and Penny into the house.

.

The three time travellers were sat around a dining room table. The things on the table were expensive and clearly the product of hunting. The Doctor let Penny and Luke sit together and he sat beside his god-daughter.

There were several adults in the room. Penny and Luke were the youngest there and both felt excited, if not a little underdressed, at the sight of the five adult in various degrees of Tudor finery. The young man was dressed in a pair of brown fabric trousers and a loose white shirt. This shirt was splattered with mud and dirt.

The older man stood beside him. He had on the expensive clothes of a Tudor lord and was eyeing the Doctor territorially.

This man's arm was wrapped around the shoulders of a woman dressed in a golden dress. She was roughly the same age as the man and her silver hair made a beautiful frame for her even more beautiful face.

Holding a third gun, there was another man. Penny guessed he was roughly middle aged and was dressed in clothes that gave the impression of noblity. He looked like he was trying very hard to fit in.

Beside him an exhausted young woman was sitting down. She had black hair pulled back into a bun and a black dress. Her eyes were rather tired but they looked like they had once been very alive.

"So, Doctor, why did you come here?" the older man asked.

"Passing through, promised to take my niece and nephew to the beach, some weird energy drove us off course." the Doctor said.

"His bad driving drove us off course." Penny said with a smile. "We thought we should stay here for a few nights."

The Doctor watched Penny and noticed streaks of her mother showing. He was happy to know that Penny had inherited his mother's best traits.

The young man scoffed and told them they didn't want to do that. The Doctor asked why but his question was answered by introductions from the older man.

"I am Lord Eric Towning." the older man said in a grand tone. "This is my wife, Jane."

He pointed to the woman beside him who forced out a smile. Luke saw worry on her face. It was the same look Sarah Jane showed when she was worried about him or Penny. It was a mothering look.

"The boy is my stable hand, Matt. The other lady is my daughter's nanny, Mary."

Luke tried to make eye contact with Mary but she looked away. It was clear to Luke she had been crying. Luke wondered if it had anything to do with the funeral they had seen.

"And this," Eric announced, approaching the final man. "Is the famed poetry and music writer Oliver Castle. He has been staying with us for nearly eleven years now and is a personal friend of mine."

Penny frowned and moved back in the chair. She knew how time with the Doctor worked and could tell that the Doctor would start asking questions soon.

"So are there more of you? More house staff?" the Doctor asked.

Matt nodded and listed off four cooks and three room servants.

"There used to be four but..." he trailed off and looked down, studying his boots.

Penny quickly prompted for more. Matt's eyes darted to Mary and she nodded slowly.

"There was another maid, Catherine. She died in an accident. Her funeral was today." Matt said slowly.

With one of their questions asked, the time travellers found that more were surfacing. Luke studied Matt for a few seconds and then ran through all he knew about the young man.

"You said 'She's been singing about a doctor'. Why?" Luke asked.

The Doctor turned to the boy and congratulated him.

"And who? Who's been singing about the Doctor?" Penny asked.

She noticed a young maid her age standing in the doorway but keeping to the shadows. Penny made a mental note to find out who it was.

When she shifted her attention back to the people in the room with her, she realised Eric had suddenly become very defensive.

"You can stay here as long as you wish but as soon as I hear one word from any of you about singing, you'll be out. All of you."

.

The Doctor and Luke were sharing a room. The room already had clothes in the wardrobes which Luke was very happy about.

Matt was lingering in the doorway and, as Luke searched the room for anything unusual, the Doctor turned to the stable hand.

"So what was that? Lord Eric seemed scared. Scared and angry. And you with your guns: scared."

"'Ere are stories, creatures in the woods." Matt breathed. "Fairy tales but... I think they're behind de 'accidents'."

He raised his hands for the quotation marks and Luke saw the smallest of shakes. He frowned but didn't meantion it.

"Accidents?" the Doctor brought up.

Matt nodded and shifted uncomfortably.

.

Penny sighed as she studied the wardrobe; it was mostly full of dresses. The teenager closed the door and guessed she could ask the Doctor to let her back into the TARDIS to get a change of clothes.

That was when there was a knock at the door. Penny called for the person to come in and a girl roughly Penny's age walked in. She was clearly a maid and she smiled nervously at Penny. Penny recognised her as the girl from before who had been spying on them.

"Where are your from?" she asked Penny, paused and frowned.

She invited the maid into the room, offering her a seat beside her on her bed.

"I'm from a place a very long way away."

"Where dressing like a boy is acceptible?" the maid gasped.

Penny nodded with a smile.

The maid had long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.  
>"Do you still have nursery rhymes there?" the maid asked.<p>

"Yes, I learnt lots. Some in alien languages."

The maid laughed but told Penny she believed her. She introduced herself as Rebecca and Penny introduced herself.

"Why were you asking about nursery rhymes?" Penny asked.

"I assume you knew, you asked about it. She's been singing nursery rhymes. She sung and you came."

"What?" Penny exclaimed.

"Miss Polly had a dolly." Rebecca said. "That's what she sung and then you appeared, you and the Doctor."

Penny shifted around and looked at Rebecca. She looked the girl straight in the eyes and then produced a reporter's notebook from her pocket.

"Tell me everything you know."

.

The Doctor looked Luke. Matt had been very vague and had raced off as soon as Luke and the Doctor had let him go. He had given a list of accidents such a woman being attacked by birds. Luke and the Doctor were talking over what they knew. They had come to the conclusion that something very strange was going on.

"So, are we going to get dressed into different clothes or wear these?" Luke asked, nodding down at his twenty-first century clothes.

There was a knock at the door and the Doctor looked over to it. He got to his feet and opened the door. He smiled when he saw Penny and held the door open for her. Penny smiled as she walked through and help up her notebook.

"Have you two come to the same conclusion as me?" Penny asked.

The Doctor smirked and nodded, taking Penny's notebook from her. He began to flick through the pages, reading all the scribbled information. Luke turned to Penny and smiled.

"We're in the future on a different planet." he said, amazed.

Penny nodded and smiled. She asked Luke if she made the right call and her brother admitted she had with a single nod.

The Doctor drew their attention with his cheesey smile and placed the notebook down on the bed.

"So to bring Luke up to speed, there is a little girl called Elizabeth and there are some very strange things going on surrounding her and her singing. We need to find her."

He looked at the two of them with a smile and asked Penny to see if she could find Rebecca. Penny went off to find her friend. The Doctor turned to Luke and asked for his view.

"So what Penny has is that if Elizabeth sings, bad things happen. The maid who's funeral we saw, she was ripped apart by birds, almost directly after Elizabeth sung 'Sing a song of six pence'. Do you know the words?"

Luke shook his head. He hadn't heard many nursery rhymes apart from the ones that little kids would sing in the park.

"Neither did I but your sister wrote it down for us."

.

Penny slowed down by the stables. She saw Matt inside, looking after the horses. She smiled and walked inside.

"Hello." Penny said, moving forwards by pressing her hand against the main of one of the white horses that was there.

Matt studied Penny. He managed a weak smile.

"'Ere is the lovely lady, Penny." he said.

"Can I talk to you about singing?" Penny asked.

Matt looked at her. He told her that she shouldn't be asking about things like that. He didn't want to see her and her two friends thrown out.

"You almost shot me and my brother, you owe me at least this."

Matt paused. He looked straight at Penny as if he forgot the horses for a few seconds.

"You've got ta make me a promise." he said. "Promise that you'll sort all dis out for Mary. She really cares about Elizabeth and she's really stressed and... She's suffering."

Penny nodded and promised him she was working on it. He told her about creatures and singing. He told her about how there was once a creature that went after Elizabeth and suddenly it was gone.

"I know Mary loves Elizabeth but dat little girl... She's... She's evil." Matt breathed.

.

Penny returned to Rebecca in tow. Rebecca's blue eye's widened when she set eyes on Luke. She grinned slightly and checked her hair was neat. Penny rolled her eyes for Luke, knowing her genius brother wouldn't really understand the signs.

"Hello, it's Rebecca, isn't it?" the Doctor beamed.

Rebecca couldn't help but smile back. She nodded up at the Doctor.

"You're Penny's friend. I'm the Doctor, this is Luke." he said, continuing to smile. "Can you take us to meet Elizabeth?"

Rebecca nodded slowly and she looked rather hesitant. Penny walked forwards and told her that they needed to see Elizabeth but also that they needed it to be a secret.

"You're the only one we can trust." Penny told Rebecca.

Under the weight of pressure to please her new found friends, Rebecca nodded and began to make her way down the corridors.

"So can you tell us about Elizabeth?" the Doctor asked.

"She's always been like this. Always but all of a sudden it got more common. There was a butler a week ago and then Catherine and now you three and..."  
>"Us three?" the Doctor said. "What? We're not here to attack."<p>

"But she sung about a doctor and you three appeared. I think you were brought here like the creatures." Rebecca said.

The Doctor turned to Penny with a cheeky grin. He told her with a grin it meant it wasn't his bad driving at all. He had known they had been latched onto by some strange form of energy.

"Why would they want us?" Luke asked.

The Doctor shrugged.

"But aren't we glad they do?"

.

Rebecca had hung back from the white door that lead into Elizabeth's room. Penny and Luke turned to her with a frown.

"I'm not going near her. I'm sorry. She's bad." Rebecca said.

Penny smiled and looked at her friend. She told Rebecca that she could go.

"Tea should be starting soon. People will start asking questions unless at least one of you goes." Rebecca said.

She began to walk down the corridors and Penny watched her friend go.

"What do we do if she starts singing?" Penny asked.

The Doctor put his arm on Penny's shoulders. He suggested that the teenagers should cover their ears if Elizabeth began to sing.

He pushed open the door bravely and walked in. A little girl was sitting on the bed, reading a book. She looked up shocked when she saw people she didn't recognise, coming into her room.

"Hello." the Doctor said, bounding into the room with a sensitive but child-like energy.

Elizabeth frowned and moved back a bit.

"Elizabeth, it's okay. We're friends." Penny said, kneeling down and touching one hand against Elizabeth's.

The little girl managed a weak smile.

"You two, why don't you go and get something to eat?" the Doctor said, looking at Penny and Luke.

The two children looked disappointed but the Doctor couldn't really think of anything else that they could be doing. Penny nodded and told the Doctor they would look for more clues. Luke smiled and said good bye to Elizabeth, sinking down to her level so he could look in her eyes. It was one of the skills he had learnt when Penny and Clyde had been turned into children. Luke left and Penny was left looking at the Doctor.

"Don't upset her, okay?" Penny said with a smirk at the Doctor. "She's just a little kid."

.

Matt got to his feet when Penny and Luke walked in. He walked up to the chair that Penny was going to sit down on and drew it out for her. She slipped into the seat and smiled up at Matt. Luke grinned at his sister and moved into the chair beside her.

"I'm glad you can join us, Miss Penny, Master Luke. Where is your uncle?" Lord Eric said.

"He's just looking around." Luke lied, knowing that people wouldn't be too happy to find out they were investigating.

Penny noticed that Mary bristled nervously at the idea that there was a chance that someone might stumble across Elizabeth. She could understand that Mary didn't want to put anyone else in danger. She had lost her friend because of Elizabeth. They knew Elizabeth was in the centre of it all but Penny couldn't comprehend the idea that a child like her could be the cause of people's deaths.

"Well, sit. We are having roast dinner."  
>Luke could just recognise the bird dinner on the table as something that must have been hunted in the wood. He smiled and picked up some cutlery.<p>

"So what do you intend to do during your stay?"

Penny tipped back a bit, acting as like the Doctor as she could. She smiled and rested her hands on the table.

"A little bit of this, a little bit of that. We just want to take in the sights."

.

The Doctor was sitting in Elizabeth's room. The little girl was watching him with a smile, trying to understand the man who had suddenly appeared.

"Daddy doesn't get many visitors. And if he does, he doesn't let me see them."

"Because when you sing, you hurt people." the Doctor said, scanning the room with his sonic.

He couldn't pick up anything wrong with the room. It was a normal child's room.

And Elizabeth was a normal child with a normal mind and a normal mouth. There was nothing wrong with the girl's songs, nothing alien.

"I don't hurt people. My songs hurts people. I don't want to sing but sometimes it just... I just start."

"So what do you want to do when you grow up, Elizabeth? Bet you want to be like Penny. But then again..." he shrugged with a sigh.

Elizabeth looked at him and laughed.

"Music. I like singing. I like music." the girl smiled. "Everyone needs music."

The Doctor sat down and smiled at her. He nodded and told her that music was great.

"And even now, the year 4009, you humans still need music."

He stood up again and Elizabeth watched him. She watched the strange man with an internal fascination and then something flooded into her head. She opened her mouth and a song began to slip out.

"Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet..." Elizabeth began to sing and the Doctor didn't notice.

.

Luke could sense something very strange. He was sure something was wrong but he couldn't work out why. Then he realised. There was something beating against the window. Luke looked over before getting Penny's attention. There was a bird with it's wings flapping against the glass sheets. I looked distress but Luke didn't understand why the bird wasn't trying to fly away.

Then he saw it.

There was a large thread hanging down and the bird seemed to be caught in it. Luke got up with the intention of freeing the bird. Penny looked at him as the conversation fell silent. Everyone was wondering what the young man was doing. He walked up to the window and Penny joined him.

"What is that?" Luke asked.

"It looks a bit like a spider's web." Penny said.

She looked up and frowned. There were three big thin legs hung over and tapping against the glass. Soon a giant spider swung down and smashed through the glass.

.

The Doctor looked at Elizabeth.

"...Miss Muffet away." Elizabeth sung.

The Doctor had only just realised that Elizabeth was singing. He frowned and looked at Elizabeth. Then he ran off to deal with what was happening.

.

Penny held herself against the door, blocking it open being opened by the large creature. Her and Luke had got everyone out of the room and now they were hiding off the dining room.

"I hope none of you are arachnidphobic." Penny said calmly.

She was in her element. Lord Eric looked at her in horror.

"What?" he exclaimed.

He was shocked how calm both teenagers were. Luke looked at him, confused.

"She's referring to the fear of spiders." Luke said to Lord Eric.

Mary looked at him and told Luke that he knew what Penny meant. She knew there was something strange about the boy. Penny looked at Luke and said they should go out. Luke nodded slowly.

.

The Doctor was racing through the corridors. He didn't know where to find the giant spider but he had seen enough to know that Elizabeth wasn't behind it. He glanced into random rooms but couldn't find the creature.

Then, knowing the Smith ability to get into trouble, he called out, "Luke! Penny!"

.

The spider was about the size of a large family car. It was spiked with black hairs and searched the teenagers who stood before it with its rows of eyes.

"That's not an Earth spider." Luke remarked as the spider began to scuttle towards them.

"What was your first clue?" Penny asked, getting Luke to back up away from the smashed window.

She didn't want them to get stuck to the web so the spider could easily prey on them.

"The eyes." Luke said, studying the millions of eyes that the spider had. "There are too many."

Penny nodded and the spider closed in on them.

"Look like a Quilian spider?" she asked.

She was trying to stay calm but panic was creeping into her voice as the spider closed in on the two of them.

Then the door to the dining room was thrown open and a skinny man in a pinstripe suit appeared.

"Whoa!" the Doctor remarked. "Now that is a big spider. Not as big as the Racnos but..."

The Doctor's head bobbed and he looked at the two Smiths. He nodded at them and watched as the spider lost interest in its current prey so he could focus on the bigger threat. The Doctor smiled and produced his sonic, trying to deduce what the creature was and how it had got there.

Then, as suddenly as it had come, the spider had gone. It was gone it a strange flash of light and all three time travellers were forced to look away.

"Okay, now that was odd." Penny remarked.

.

The Doctor looked at Penny. She was talking to the others, using her social skills to talk to the others and calm them down. The Doctor walked over to Luke and smiled at him. Luke was walking around the room, looking in the corners for spiders webs.

"I'm here for a reason." the Doctor said. "Well, not here, here... I took you two out for a reason."

He took a deep breath and looked the boy in the eyes. Luke lost interest in his search and looked at the Doctor.

"It's been said that I'm going to die soon." the Doctor said. "There's still things I have to do. There's some reality altering stuff I'm going to have to deal with. But I'm going to die."

Luke began to panic.

"But you can regenerate, can't you?" Luke asked, nervously.

The Doctor nodded and ran his fingers along his stubble.

"Yeah, but that's not the point. The new Doctor, he's a completely different person, a new man if it were. Your sister grew up knowing me as the Doctor and I promised myself that this man would take he amongst the stars. He does, I've taken the future Penny through time and space but I want her childhood Doctor to be me as well. So I needed to take her to an alien world in a different time."

The Doctor paused and looked away from Luke. Then he shifted his gaze to Penny and he watched her.

"And if the new Doctor is a bad man, Luke," the Doctor continued. "you punch him. If he even considers being mean to your sister, punch him."

Then Luke noticed a spider. He moved towards it and smiled. The Doctor asked him what his sudden fascination with spiders was about. He could understand that the boy had just been attacked by a giant spider. Luke walked over and offered one of his hands to the spider. The Doctor batted his hand down like the boy was reaching for a snake instead of a household spider and let the creature crawl onto his hand. He smiled as the spider scurried over his knuckles and then raised it to Luke's eyes. Luke looked for the creature's eyes and saw it had eight small black eyes.

"I thought that the spider that attacked us could be a larger version of a Quilian spider. It's an idea that Penny suggested but it can't be right because the spiders don't have that many eyes." Luke said.

The Doctor smiled.

"Okay, Mini Doc, Big Doc, we should go and see Elizabeth." Penny called.

Lord Eric frowned. He looked at Penny and then to the Doctor and Luke.

"You will not go near my daughter." Lord Eric said. "I told you three that you were to leave the idea of singing alone. I hope that you and your family have a place to stay, Doctor."

"My lord, I don't think we should get rid of da group. Dey just saved us all from da spider." Matt said, looking at Penny.

He could remember that Penny had talked to him and he knew that they were trying to help.

"We owe them that, Eric." the Lord's wife said with a smile.

The Lord sighed and nodded. He told them that it was their last chance and suggested they all went off to bed. Penny smiled and agreed. She went off to bed, dragging Luke behind her with a smile so he could go to bed as well.

.

The Doctor had asked Mary to tell him about Elizabeth. They were in the little girl's room and Mary was tucking Elizabeth into bed. Elizabeth had been crying about the spider and what had happened. She had calmed down and was now tucked up. The little girl was falling into the darkness of sleep while the Doctro and Mary walked in hushed whispered.  
>"She loves to sing. She's always loved to sing. I used to tell her stories about the woods and the creatures rumoured to be in them. She loved those stories and used to go out into the woods, singing to the creatures. There were just stories of course, creatures in the woods but..." Mary shook it off with a calm smile.<p>

The Doctor watched her and then let his gaze fall onto Elizabeth.

"I will get this sorted out. Me and my friends, we deal with stuff like this all the time."

The Doctor sighed and nodded. He realised he had better go and check on Penny and Luke. He looked at Mary and wished her good night. Then he left. Mary watched him go and then looked at Elizabeth. She walked towards the window and looked out over the woods.

.

The Doctor walked into Penny's room and smiled when he saw Luke and Penny were sitting on Penny's bed, discussing what was happening. He walked in and joined them.

"You humans, terrified of nursery rhymes and creatures in the wood." the Doctor said.

"Not everyone had a Time Lord telling them nursery rhymes." Penny smirked.

The Doctor smiled and told them that they needed to review everything that had happened. The teenagers nodded and they began to recap.

.

Mary was walking back to her room. It was dark but she was calm. She was really assured by the Doctor and what he had said. Suddenly she heard something from behind her. She stopped and looked down the corridor. There wasn't anything there. Mary took a deep breath and kept walking.

.

Elizabeth sat up in bed. She had a song on her lips and was frowning to herself.

"Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.

Mary had a little lamb, who's fleece was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go."

.

Mary continued to walk down the corridor. She frowned and when she heard a floorboard creaking. She turned and looked back. There was something very wrong.

Her heart began to hammer and she quickened her pace.

She glanced back and gasped as she saw it. A large creature with ringlets of fur covering it's grey body. It had a large round head with rows of sharp teeth and it moved towards Mary on it's four paws.

She screamed.

.

Luke, Penny and the Doctor stood up upon hearing the scream. They were all moving before any of them had time to realised what was happening.

.

The trio ran towards Mary. They looked at the creature and took a step back.

"Whoa." Penny breathed.

The creature studied the new arrivals and the Doctor smiled. He gasped at how amazing the creature was but then Mary screamed again and he snapped back. He raced towards Mary and let the teenagers follow him. The creature charged and the group raced off down the corridors.

They slammed the doors behind them as they thundered off.

.

Penny held the door closed as the Doctor lead Mary into the room.

"Luke, look for an exit." the Doctor said.

Mary was panicking and screaming. The Doctor ran over to Penny and pulled out his sonic so he could lock the door.

"There's a door, Doctor!" Luke called over.

The Doctor told Luke to get Mary by it in case the creature broke in. Luke nodded and helped Mary over there. She was still panicking but having someone in control was calming her down. The Doctor and Penny kept their ears to the door and listened to what was happening.

"Mary." a little voice was saying.

"But that sounds like..." Penny murmured.

"Elizabeth!"

Penny nodded. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the Doctor. He already had his sonic out to unlock the metal mechanism.

"I'll grab her." the Doctor said, opening the door.

The creature had turned its back to the heroes so it could face Elizabeth. It charged and suddenly disappeared. Elizabeth looked up in horror and frowned.

"Luke, you remember the way to Elizabeth's room?" the Doctor asked, moving out to see that the creature had really disappeared.

Luke moved over and nodded and the Doctor said he should take Elizabeth back. Luke did, taking Eliabeth's hand. Penny looked at the Doctor.

"Do they keep disappearing?" Penny asked.

The Doctor nodded and told Penny that she should go and comfort Mary. She nodded and went over to Mary. Other people moved into the corridor and began to look for answers. It was Lord Eric who voiced his complaints the loudest.

"What on Quiles is going on?" Lord Eric demanded.

The Doctor turned to Eric. He was fuming. He was aware of Penny nursing Mary.

"It was Elizabeth. Someone needs to go and check on her." Mary sobbed.

"We can sort this, Mary. I promise." Penny said.

Eric looked at her with rage in his eyes. He told her that he wasn't happy about them investigating.

"How many more?" the Doctor bellowed into Eric's face.

Everyone's eyes had shifted to the two, shocked by the Doctor's anger. Eric took a step back, nervously.

"How many more? Are you going to wait until everyone of us is dead?" the Doctor shouted.

Eric saw red then.

"And what can you do? Can you do any more than me?"

"I can try." the Doctor said.

Eric began to mumble that the Doctor was insane. He looked up and gave the group a nod.

"Do it then." Eric groaned.

.

It was the next morning and everything looked different. The sun was shining and the Doctor was on a war path. He had asked for Mary to be given the day off and now Elizabeth was with her mother.

The Doctor was pacing the room he had been allowed to use as an office. He had a lazer pointer in one hand and was using it to highlight areas of a map.

"So, my collegues, my..." the Doctor searched for the right word. "My band of... You know this is easier when there's just one of you."

Luke was the only person sitting in the room in front of the Doctor as Penny had yet to get up. Luke reminded the Doctor that he was the only other person in the room.

"Morning, you two." Penny smiled as she walked into the room.

She sat down on the chair beside Luke and then her eyes fell on the Doctor.

"Oh no, someone's given him another pen like light up object." Penny smirked.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to shine the light in Penny's eyes.

"Can you two check out the woods? Stay together." the Doctor said when he was answered with nods.

"Okay, Doctor. And what will you be doing?"

"I'm going to talk to the others. Now we can talk to everyone, I will be running interviews with the others." the Doctor said.

Penny and Luke nodded and got up to leave. The Doctor watched them go. He was tempted to stop the teenagers because he was wanted to keep them safe.

.

Luke and Penny were walking through the woods. They were looking for creatures but weren't really sure what they were exactly after.

"I couldn't travel with him the whole time." Luke remarked, filling the silence between the two.

Penny had long since realised that Luke, with so many questions and confusions, that any moment of silence was short lived.

"Do you think...?"

"That I could travel with him?" Penny finished.

She paused for a few seconds, her hand resting on a branch. She was smiling at the idea and happy that Luke was behind her and therefore couldn't see. She would love to travel with the Doctor. It would be amazing to see the aliens in their homes, see the things that they saw every day.

"I couldn't do it forever." Penny admitted. "I'd want to settle down at some point, work for Torchwood, have a family..."

"With Clyde." Luke interrupted.

The two teenagers continued to pick their way through the woods but they continued to talk between themselves.

"What about you and Maria? I hear what you say to her... About how pretty she is, how much you like her. I might not be a genius but I'm good with things like that." Penny smirked.

Luke frowned. He had thought about him and Maria. He liked her, he couldn't deny it but... He didn't know if they could have a family. He couldn't be sure if, him being the Archetype, meant he could have children. He couldn't be sure if he would want to settle down, this was all he had ever known. He couldn't even be sure if Maria wanted to be in a relationship with him.

"It's confusing." Luke said.

"It's a game." Penny corrected him. "Poker or something..."

"Poker?" Luke asked.

Penny didn't really want to explain a gambling game to her brother, especially since they would be in trouble if their mum found out where they were, let alone what they were talking about.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that Maria likes you, you like her and you just need to show her."

Luke asked Penny how he was meant to do that but his sister had stopped and was staring ahead.

"Look over there." Penny hissed, moving behind the cover of a trunk.

Luke looked round the tree and frowned. There was a figure in a brown hooded cloak standing over a patch of ground.

"Can you hear that?" Luke asked as he ducked into hiding.

There was something drifting in the air. Luke could register the sound but he couldn't understand it. Penny suggested they should go and talk to the person, ask them why they were there.

.

The Doctor paced the room in front of Lord Eric. He looked thoughtfully at the Lord and then asked why the Lord had not wanted the investigations to go on.

"There are some very dangerous things in this world and I..."

The Lord paled and bit his lip before he continued.

"I know what fear can do to a person. I know how I treat Elizabeth seems wrong but... Oh, imagine what people would do to her if they knew what she did."

"She doesn't do it." the Doctor said, taking a seat on the table he had invaded with scraps of paper that Penny had, helpfully, written down nursery rhymes she believed they should worry about. "Your daughter can't control what she does. She is as unwilling in this as you and..."  
>"Where are your nephew and niece?" Lord Eric asked, slowly.<p>

The Doctor frowned and told Eric that they were off doing other work.

"It's just that you've got a map of the woods on your table and I thought for a moment that you might have sent them into there." Eric said.

"Is that a bad thing?"

The Lord had gone white. He looked at the Doctor in horror.

"We need to find them."

The Doctor sensed Eric's horror and realised that he had sent the teenagers somewhere very dangerous. He fished into his pockets and produced his phone and his sonic screwdriver.

"I can track them!" the Doctor shouted, already racing out of the room, the tails of his coat trailing.

.

Luke could sense something was wrong. He walked towards the cloaked figure and frowned. Penny's phone was ringing in her pocket.

"It's got signal here?" Penny managed.

Luke shrugged and Penny said she needed to take the call. Luke walked over to the figure.

"Can we help you?" Luke asked as Penny answered the call.

"GET OUT OF THE WOOD!" the Doctor shouted down the phone.

The figure looked at both teenagers and Luke gasped. He could see blue skin and a wrinkled snout from under the hood. The creature opened it's mouth and a strange light sound echoed out of it. Penny dropped her phone instantly and seconds later both of the Smiths had fallen to the ground.

.

The Doctor had heard the strange noise. He frowned and pressed on harder. He was using Penny's phone to track the teenagers and the sudden noise had worried him. Eric was keeping pace with the Doctor but stopped when the Doctor reached the clearing his companions were in. Penny and Luke were both lying on the ground, looking as if they were asleep. The Doctor looked around and saw the whip of a brown cloak disappearing away.

Knowing he couldn't risk the lives of the teenagers by giving chase, the Doctor knelt down and began to check both over.

After a thirty agonising seconds, his checks were done on both and he pulled back. He looked at Eric with a frown.  
>"Just unconscious. Just sleeping." the Doctor sighed.<p>

He looked down at the both of them and picked up Penny's phone.

"Why?" he thought aloud. "Why just knock two teenagers unconscious? A trap? No, would have been sprung the moment we walked into it. They're the trap?"

He used his sonic to check both teenagers and was proved wrong.

"Then what? Why? Unless..."

"Unless, what, Doctor?" Lord Eric asked, picking Penny up so he could carry her back to the house.

"He was going to kill them. He knocked them out so he could kill them quickly. Normally, I would try to understand. But not this time. Penny and Luke are my family and Elizabeth's only a kid. These creatures don't care who they hurt and now... No more." the Doctor vowed. "No one else dies."

.

Given the Doctor's vow, Eric had expected instant action. Instead, the Doctor had spent the next hour in the room Penny and Luke had been placed in, checking the teenagers every time they moved. It was Penny who woke up first, her head spinning slightly but she managed to give the Doctor a sleeply smile.

He was by her side in second, checking her over.

"Whoa, I'm alright..." Penny murmured, half-sleep. "I'm just... I'm just tired, that's all."  
>The Doctor smiled because his checks had proven just that. Penny smiled and sat up fully, pulling in her legs so the Doctor could sit on her bed.<p>

"Did you pick up my phone?" Penny asked.

The Doctor nodded and gave it back to her. Penny studied it for a second and sighed.

"Do you stalk me?" Penny asked.

"What?" the Doctor exclaimed.

"I've talked to Martha. I'm not thick either. My phone only works on a different planet because you've given it universal roaming and the notebook that you write everything in and... Do you stalk me?"

The Doctor ran his hand over his stubble and then smiled cheekily. He nodded at Penny.

"Every time you get a new phone, the Brig calls me. He tells me that you're getting a new UNIT phone and I sonic it, making sure that I can call you when needed."

"When you need me?" Penny scoffed. "I'm stuck on Earth."

"Not all the time." the Doctor said. "If you don't want to be. I'm alone at the minute and..."

He held out his hand for Penny's phone. Penny handed it back to him and he soniced it before handing it back. Penny looked at the phone for a few seconds and then asked the Doctor what he had done.

"Look in contacts." the Doctor said.

Penny did as she was told. Everything was the same until she reached the contacts for 'D'. The Doctor had given her his number.

"Any time you get bored, give me a call. But you've got to promise to tell me everything: school, family..."

"Boyfriend." Luke said, looking at the Doctor and his sister.

The Doctor's eyes widened at the realisation that Penny had a boyfriend. He frowned and told Penny that she was too young.

.

It was the afternoon before the Doctor let Penny and Luke get up. The Doctor had come up with a theory.

"What you saw must have been an alien, right?" the Doctor said. "So there must be a way the creatures are getting in and disappearing so quickly. I think it has to be teleports. That's how I would get giant spiders and other animals into a house like this."

"So..."

"There's a chance, because this is what I would do, that's there's a receiver in the building. It would make sure that the creatures don't teleport into a wall or something." the Doctor explained to the two teenagers.

"And if we find the receiver..." Penny began.

"We can trace the signal." Luke finished.

The Doctor nodded, impressed at the two teenagers. Penny suggested that they should split up but the Doctor instantly said no. He wasn't willing to risk the teenagers any more than he had done already.

"First rule: don't wonder off." the Doctor announced to the two of them.

.

They had quite literally searched the house high and low. They had covered all of the ground sections and had worked their way up so they had just finished the top floor.

"There are a set of stairs going up to a clock tower." Luke reported when asked to see if there was anywhere they hadn't searched.

The Doctor nodded and smiled, herding the teenagers towards the stairs.

.

"Hickery, Dickery Dock..." Elizabeth began to sign as she played with her dolls.

As soon as she let the words escape, she dropped the toys and looked around in shock.

.

The clock tower had a long spiral staircase leading up to a circular section with surrounded a bell. A large rope was hanging down from the bell and reaching a lower section.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic and began to sonic the area. He couldn't find anything that might have possibly been a receiver.

Then they heard a noise on the stairs.

"Penny, go and distract them." the Doctor said. "We can't be disturbed."

Penny nodded and headed down the swirling stairs. The Doctor turned to Luke and began to ask questions that he didn't give Luke time to answer.

"There needs to be a receiver. There has to be. Why wouldn't there be one? What am I missing? Why even do this? What have they done wrong? Is this a punishment? Is this a, I don't know? Is there one of them behind this?"

.

Penny was continuing down the stairs. There was a strange, squeaking noise coming from down the stairs. Something strange was going on and she realised that it had to be nursery rhyme based. She thought of nursery rhymes that might be linked to their situation and was thankful and proud of her Earth based education.

She darted into the bell ringing chamber.

.

"Where is that sister of yours?" the Doctor asked.

"You asked her to distract someone and she likes to talk." Luke answered.

The Doctor was still sonicking around and frowned because he couldn't find anything. There was a pause and the Doctor listened. He could still hear the noise and it was getting louder.

"Luke, get behind me." the Doctor said.

Luke nodded and complied. The Doctor got between the boy and the doorway, making sure he would be able to defend him.

A large grey creature appeared in the doorway. It had large ears and a pointed nose and looked strangely like a mouse. But it was big enough to eat a man and its teeth were sharp enough to do it as well.

"COVER YOUR EARS!" Penny screamed up at Luke and the Doctor.

They both did it and Penny pulled hard on the rope hanging in front of her. The bell rung deafeningly and the mouse like creature began to panic and tried to run. Suddenly it disappeared.

Luke raced forwards and looked down at his sister.

"Bells, good for distracting nuns and scaring alien mice." Penny remarked.

"What did you say!" the Doctor shouted back down, unable to hear Penny over the ringing in his years.

.

The sun was setting by the time they had drawn up another plan. They couldn't find the receiver so they were going to run damage control until they could work it out. The trio were standing in Elizabeth's room, talking in hushed whispered. Their plan was to keep a watch on Elizabeth and use the nursery rhymes to help them.

"I'll take first watch." Luke volunteered.

"Okay, bedtime." the Doctor said to Penny.  
>Penny nodded and smiled. She left and the Doctor turned to Luke.<p>

"Tell me if she starts singing." the Doctor said.

Luke asked how and the Doctor thought for a second. Then, as if remembering something, the Doctor fished into his pockets. He produced a handheld radio and handed it to Luke. Luke nodded and said good night to the Doctor, before settling down to his watch.

.

It was the middle of the night. Penny was awoken by the sound of footsteps in the corridors. The floorboards were creaking. Penny sat up and frowned. She could see a flickering light under the wooden door. There was something drifting through the air, a sound in an alien language the girl didn't understand.

"Elizabeth?" she called out, knowing that only one person would be singing.

.

Luke looked at Elizabeth. The little girl had sat up and was singing. She looked as if she was asleep and was singing about fruits and bells.  
>"Said the great bell of Boe."<p>

Luke picked up the radio the Doctor had given him.

"I think the song is called Oranges and Lemons." Luke said, having already reported that it was going on.

"Find everyone, get them into the main hall so we can stop this attack."

.

The light had stopped at Penny's doorway. A knock against the door sounded. The girl's eyes widened. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she suddenly felt very scared. The light continued to flicker under the door, like a candle was being held almost against the door.

.

"Here comes the candle to light you to bed."

.

Penny slipped out of bed and looked around for a hiding place. She had nothing to defend herself, dressed in the long flowing nightgown. The handle of the door began to turn and Penny frowned. The door began to creak open and Penny was left standing in the centre of the room. She could see a candle as the door opened.

And its light was reflecting off a sharpened metal blade.

.

"Here comes the chopper to chop. Off. Your. Head."

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	24. Child's play part 2

The door to Penny's room fully opened and the two attackers moved inside. The room seemed empty but they could sense someone was still inside.

Hiding behind a wall of dresses and clothes, Penny watched through a small gap she had left in the wardrobe doors. She studied the two attackers. They looked like the alien from the wood and sung to each other in a form of communication. Penny didn't understand the language but she could tell the aliens weren't friendly. She kept as still as she could, fighting to control her breathing.

.

"Where's Penny?" the Doctor asked, looking from all the people. "Don't tell me you've forgotten your own sister?"

The group in front of him were dressed in night clothes and looking tired and grumpy. The Doctor was holding Elizabeth's hand. She had stopped singing and was watching the Doctor with curiosity.

Luke shifted about and frowned. He scanned the guests while informing the Doctor that he never forgot.

"I went to get her but I heard footsteps. I guessed someone had already got her."

"The girl's in danger!" Lord Eric said. "Matt, collect the guns we'll go and find her and shoot anything that..."

"No one is killing anything." the Doctor announced. "Luke, Elizabeth and me are going to find Penny and if even one of you gets a gun you're going to have to deal with me, have you got that?"  
>.<p>

The aliens had searched under the bed, behind the door, behind the curtains and they knew. There was only one other hiding place that the girl could be in and that was the wardrobe. They pulled open the door and Penny made a break for it. She reached the corridor and began to sprint down it, not noticing where she was going. The two aliens followed her, running faster than Penny could go. They easily caught her.

"Let me go!" Penny demanded when one grabbed her by the wrist.

The other held the axe like weapon and paused. It talked for a few moments with its companion and then it let the axe blade fall.

The Doctor came running down the corridor with Luke and Elizabeth in tow. He stopped when he saw the two aliens standing around Penny and then the two disappeared. Penny looked at the trio standing down the corridor and smiled.

"Teleport." the Doctor muttered, running towards Penny. "Where on Earth have they put the receiver?"

He pulled Penny into a hug and asked her to tell him everything.

.

"I am thick." the Doctor announced. "I am Thicky Thicko Thickington from Thicksville."

Penny had told him what had happened and described the creatures. Elizabeth was sitting on Penny's lap, half asleep and Luke was flicking through a book he had found.

"Why can't I get this? Ancient aliens who sing to communicate. There has to be one."

"What makes you think they're ancient, not just really, really rare?" Luke asked.

The Doctor explained that the TARDIS didn't translate old languages but could generally translate really, really rare ones.  
>"What about fairytale ones?" Elizabeth asked. "Stuff from fairytales."<p>

The Doctor frowned and shook his head. He remarked that he didn't think that the aliens were fairytale creatures. Elizabeth simply hopped off Penny's lap and took the book off Luke. She flicked through it and opened it to a certain page. One of the alien they had been dealing with stared back at them.

"The creatures in the woods." she said. "Ancorians."

The Doctor snatched the book and began to read it.

"Sing to communicate..." he murmured. "Kidnap children... Knock them out with singing..."

He looked up at Elizabeth and frowned.

"It's all here. All of it. Why didn't you...?"

"Because when I sing people get hurt. Mary used to read me the story when I was little but my daddy said that it wasn't a nice story and said I shouldn't hear it any more." Elizabeth answered.

"Why would he say that?" the Doctor asked.

"Because there are actually creatures in the woods." Penny said. "And it isn't right to talk about them."

The Doctor nodded. Luke looked at Elizabeth and smiled. Then the Doctor began to jump up and down.

"Luke was right, he's nearly always right. He was right. The creatures, Ancorians, are really rare, so rare we think they are myths and the TARDIS didn't translate it." the Doctor said. "Get everyone together. We're calling a meeting."

.

Everyone was standing in the room. Matt and Mary were sitting together and Penny was sitting next to Elizabeth. The Doctor was standing in front of them, with Luke beside him.

"We've solved what is going on." the Doctor announced. "The creatures in the wood are aliens who communicate through singing. They use it as a form of code in their computers, for their teleports." He paused to let it all settle in. He told them that the aliens were known as Ancorians to them. This raised murmurs from them all.

"I should have realised when one attacked Penny and Luke in the woods." the Doctor said.

He moved towards the group and then looked towards Elizabeth.

"She has grown up around the spaceship, around the teleport. Her brain has wired itself into the ship. She gets the singing code and translates it into something we can understand."  
>"She's the bleeping light that shows you something is happening." Penny said, mostly to explain it to Elizabeth.<p>

"Which means she's just a normal kid – so cut her some slack." the Doctor said. "Next, I'm going to pass over to Luke, because he's good with numbers and he's going to explain the next bit."

Luke looked nervously over the group but began to explain what he had worked out.

"The stories say that Ancorians kidnap children but they had no real interest in Elizabeth. In fact she was the only person in the whole house who hasn't been attacked. You thought that was because she was behind it. It's because she's too young. Penny and me are old enough to be counted but not Elizabeth." Luke explained. "Which means that something happened eleven or twelve years ago which means that Elizabeth can't be a suspect as she wasn't born then."

There was a pause and Penny watched. That was her job. Luke and the Doctor told the group their findings. Penny watched to see who reacted.

"Something happened years ago and the Ancorians want revenge. They're killing the people in the house because they don't know who to blame. They only know that it couldn't have been Elizabeth. That's why they were more cautious about blaming me, Luke and Penny. We hadn't been in the house before but when we started to investigate they mistook us for a threat." the Doctor summerised. "So, who is going to own up?"

"To what?" Lord Eric asked.

Penny had noticed he had reacted the most. He had paled and started to shake.

"Most aliens won't attack unless provoked. Is there any chance you killed one of them?" the Doctor asked, an angry edge swarming in his tone.

Eric got even worse. He let his head slip into his hands.

"I'm sorry." he whimpered.

"Pardon?" the Doctor said.

"I'm sorry. It was a mistake. A hunting accident. I didn't mean to kill him. I..."

He paused and scanned the group. All eyes had fallen onto him as if he was a creature himself. He found his eyes settling on the Doctor's. They were emotionless which was better than the uncomprehending looks he was getting from his family and friends.

"I was scared. There was a creature in the wood and I just shot out. I hit him, I tried to help him. I promise I did but... I am so sorry."

There was a pause as he looked at them all. The group were silent. Luke and Penny were looking towards the Doctor for help.

"Tell them it was you." a voice said from within the group.

No one could tell who it was from. They searched the group, trying to work out who was suggesting such a thing.

"Just go out there and tell them." Matt said, standing up, continuing his comment.

Matt's anger was all on Eric but he looked towards the Doctor, expecting the skinny man to agree with him.

"I don't know if that would help." the Doctor murmured slightly.

"People have died." Matt growled. "Innocent people."

"And another death isn't going to solve anything." the Doctor growled back.

There was an anger in his eyes as he looked at Penny. He asked her to take Elizabeth to her room. Penny nodded and took Elizabeth by the hand, leading her of the room.

"It would cause more deaths keeping him here." Matt reasoned.

He looked to the other staff. He barely looked at the Lord. Eric had gone pale and Luke found himself tempted to take Eric out.

"You don't know that." Luke said. "In fact, if they know for sure that we were hiding the person they were after, they might kill us all. We have to try and reason with them."

"They're creatures!" Matt spat, using his height advantage over to boy to try and intimidate him.

Luke shook his head, telling Matt about how the creatures seemed reasonable. They hadn't attacked Elizabeth because they knew she couldn't have done it. They hadn't killed him and Penny on sight either.

"Luke's right. We need to try and reason with them." the Doctor said,

He looked at the group and then at Luke.

"If I leave you in charge here and take Penny with me, you have to promise that you won't let anyone do anything to Lord Eric." the Doctor whispered.

Luke nodded but looked nervous. He knew how big the responsibility was. A man's life could be in the balance. He didn't think he could handle Matt. As if the Doctor could read Luke's mind, he said he would be taking Matt with him.

.

They walked through the forest. Penny was dressed in one of the Lady of the manor's cloaks, keeping her warm. Matt was muttering vicious things under his breath. At first they had been reserved for just Eric but, slowly, the Doctor had been worked into them.

"How do you think we find these Ancorians?" the Doctor asked.

Penny shrugged. The Ancorian who had attacked her and Luke had just been there.

"All I know is to not let them touch you." Penny said.

She had left her phone with her brother, making him promise to call if something happened or Elizabeth started singing.  
>"Your mum is going to kill me when I get you back." the Doctor said.<p>

Penny nodded slightly. She could understand why Matt was acting like he was. Some times, especially when she had been young, her mother had done things that had seemed harsh or cruel. Once Penny had been dropped off to stay with her adoptive uncle for a fortnight because Sarah Jane had been off fighting a group of aliens. It hadn't mattered to Penny that she was six and the aliens were very dangerous; she had felt like her mother had abandoned her. It hadn't helped that when Sarah Jane had come back, she had forgotten the very important point that she had been gone over Mother's day. Penny's card and gifts had been forgotten under the rush of work that Sarah Jane had needed to catch up on.

Sometimes people did bad things to protect the people they loved. Whether it be suggesting they sent Lord Eric out to face the creatures or not noticing that a gift had been left on the side for Mother's day.

"Me and Luke won't tell her. Luke doesn't tell her when I get detention and I don't tell her every time Luke messes up his words or social stuff." Penny told him.

The Doctor nodded and then looked over at Matt. Suddenly he noticed a hooded figure standing in the wood.

"Ancorians, exactly who I wanted to see!" the Doctor called over, waving.

The hooded figure turned and it was clear to them all it was an Ancorian. Matt's voice cut out and his breath caught in his throat. Penny smiled slightly, happy that Matt's moaning had finally stopped. The Ancorian moved slowly forwards and stood in front of the Doctor.

Slowly it began to sing. It's song was breath taking. The lyrics didn't form into words Penny completely recognised but her head somehow needed to find a meaning.

"_What do you know of us?_" the alien sung to the Doctor.

"I know you are looking for revenge. I know your machine has infected a little girl and I know who you are after. I'm not going to help you get them but I will help you make peace."

"_We do not want peace. We want our brother avenged. A death for a death._"

"You've killed more of them." the Doctor said. "They might have come in their droves to murder you."

"_We search only for the murderer._" the alien snapped. "_The ones who get in the way are mistakes._"

The Doctor shook his head, looking at Penny and then at Matt.

"You don't even know who you're looking for." Penny said. "We know. We could tell you, make a deal. You give him a proper trail."

The Doctor nodded, moving towards Penny. He slipped his arm protectively around her shoulders.

"_You have a brother. The boy. You imply he is your brother._" the alien said.

Penny looked up at the Doctor, unsure of what to do. The Ancorian took this as a sign that he was corrected so he pressed on.

"_We will spare the people in the house if you give up the information. Including your brother._"

Penny shook her head. She shot a look over to Matt, murmuring at him to not speak either. The Doctor told the alien that he wasn't going to let them do that. That was when he noticed more hooded figures standing around them.

"_You do not have a choice._" the alien informed the trio.

.

Luke was in Elizabeth's room. Eric was with him. He wasn't letting the Lord out of his sight. The Doctor had trusted him with Eric's protection and he wasn't going to take it lightly. Penny had lost her father before she had been born and Luke had never had one. He could see the way not having a father had affected Penny.

"Luke." Elizabeth said, pulling on Luke's arm.

She looked up into his eyes and frowned. There was something causing pain in her head. She knew it was another song coming.

"Row, Row, Row, your boat..." Elizabeth began to sing.

Luke went to grab Penny's phone. He was going to call the Doctor so he could be told what to do. Eric however snatched the phone.

"I'm going to find them." he told Luke and hurried off, locking the door.

He locked Luke and his daughter into the room. The teenaged boy ran at the door and tried the lock. Luke had picked a lock before and he knew he could remember how to do it. He, however, wasn't sure he could find the tools he needed in the room.

"...Don't forget to scream." Elizabeth finished.

.

The Doctor pulled Penny back from where she had strayed too close to an Ancorian. Penny frowned, looking at the Ancorians. She was used to aliens but there were too many and the threat about her brother was still in her mind. She was happy that the Doctor was with her.

"We're not going to tell you. So you should just let the people in the house go." the Doctor challenged.

The Ancornian leader didn't even falter. He looked at Matt, sensing a weakness from him.

"_The culprit, who was it?_" he inquired.

Matt shook his head and lied, saying that he hadn't been told. The Ancorian turned to the Doctor and shook his head.

"_I had hoped that it wouldn't have to have come to this. We know neither your nephew or your niece were involved._" the Ancorian said.

The Doctor frowned, checking Penny (the girl he had told them was his niece) was by his side.

"Luke." Penny murmured. "He's going to go after Luke."

The Doctor pulled out his phone and handed it to Penny. She went to call her brother, trying to work out what was going on.

.

Lord Eric started running through the woods. He had to find the group before something bad happened. He had to stop the creatures.

.

Elizabeth heard it first. The scraping noise on the door.

Luke was searching through her things to find something he could use to pick the lock. He wished he had been given the Doctor's sonic. He could remember how to get it to work on locks.

"Luke, there's..." Elizabeth began, pressing her ear against the door.

Luke stopped and looked towards her, leaping over the bed. He pressed his ear against the door and found himself wincing. He ran through the words of the nursery rhyme he had heard Elizabeth sing and focused in on one line.

"'If you see a crocodile'. You're kidding, right? You children and your murderous nursery rhymes." Luke remarked, leaning back and looking and Elizabeth.

The little girl looked up at him, not quite comprehending what Luke's actions meant. Luke paused.

"There's a crocodile, or something like one, outside. We can't get out or we will be eaten."

Then Penny's phone rang. Luke slipped it out of his pocket and frowned, seeing the call was coming from the Doctor's phone.

.

"Elizabeth started singing and... the murderer ran. He locked Luke and Elizabeth in the girl's room and Luke thinks there's a crocodile outside." Penny reported, handing the Doctor back his phone.

Her eyes however were fixed on the Ancorian, knowing that it was her and the Doctor this was meant to torture. She looked over at Matt and sighed. She knew there was very little chance that he was going to keep lying if he knew that the people in the house were in danger. She didn't want him to know about it but he seemed to have heard it.

She was impressed by the fact that he wasn't talking.

"_You see, we hold all of the cards._" the Ancorian said. "_You are trapped here, a creature is in your sanctury._"

Then Eric broke through the trees. He ran forwards and dove through the fence of Ancorians.

"I did it! I killed your friend!" Eric shouted, opening his arms and spinning around to make sure all the attention was on him.

The Doctor, Penny and Matt looked at him as if he was mad. They had been dealing with the situation, trying to save him. They hadn't planned for this.

"Lord Eric," Matt urged. "We need you to..."

"_He murdered our friend! Our brother!_" the Ancorian growled.

The Doctor rushed between Eric and the Ancorian. There was a massive circle around them so it was hard to completely block him.

"I... It was an accident." Eric said, tears swelling in his eyes. "I didn't mean to do it. I got scared. I... You should have left my daughter out of it!"

"Eric, please, be quiet." the Doctor said, looking at the lead Ancorian.

He took a deep breath and tried to tell them that it was an accident and that the Ancorians had killed more than enough people to have revenge for the death of one of their own.

"_He must pay. Then maybe we can have closure._"

Penny could see the Doctor was getting no where. She moved forwards. She made eye contact with the Doctor and he tried to convince her not to do it. She felt ill. She kept thinking about Luke trapped in the room with a creature outside.

"I know what it's like to lose someone. I never met my dad. He was killed by an alien before I was even born. Since then, I've fought aliens, I've saved them, I've helped them off my planet and helped them hide on it." Penny said. "And if I did what you did..."

She trailed off and looked at Eric. She pointed at him and sighed.

"What he did was wrong but it was a mistake. I would never kill over a mistake. Let alone kill someone random."

The Ancorians looked at her and ordered the Doctor to hand her the phone.

"_Call your brother. Decide if you really want to protect that murderer._"

.

Luke couldn't hear the phone ringing. The scratching had become a thudding. The wood of the door was threatening to buckle. Luke had told Elizabeth to hide behind her bed and Luke was making sure the door stayed as strong as possible.

He couldn't hear the ringing from his pocket.

.

Penny had gone pale as soon as the phone had gone to answer phone. She looked over at the Doctor and he moved towards her, going to comfort her. That was when Eric had darted forwards. He looked at the Ancorians and then at others.

"Just do it!" he ordered.

Knowing the Doctor was distracted, the lead Ancorian grabbed Eric's arm. The lord winced slightly and then nodded. He looked over at Matt.

"Tell the others I'm sorry." Eric said.

Then the Ancorians disappeared with Eric. The Doctor looked around, realising what was happening. He gasped and moaned, shouting at the long gone aliens.

Matt stopped him.

"Your nephew. Eric made his choice and we've got to make sure that the others are safe." Matt said.

The Doctor looked around. He looked at Matt and then at Penny. He nodded slightly, moving towards Penny. He pulled Penny into a strong hug and then began to make their way back to the house.

.

Luke didn't know what to do when the thudding had suddenly stopped. He brushed his ear agaisnt the door and listened. He couldn't hear the creature moving away. He hoped that it had teleported away like the other creatures but he wasn't sure. He went for the phone when he heard footsteps.

Elizabeth had started to get up and Luke got her to get back down. She ducked into hiding once more.

Luke heard a whirring noise and then the door clicked. It was opened and he shuffled forwards, recognising the sound of the Doctor's sonic. The Doctor and Penny were standing there. Penny pulled Luke into a strong hug and he realised instantly that something was wrong.

"What happened?" he asked.

Penny didn't answer and neither did the Doctor. The Doctor looked at Penny silently.

"What happens now?" Penny asked.

The Doctor paused, watching as Elizabeth stood up. He took a deep breath and used it to pop his cheeks.

"Now we go." he said, simple.

.

There was a sombre feel in the night's air as the trio of heroes walked away from the house. None of them looked back, feeling partly like they had failed.

"I wish we could have done more." Luke said. "Stopped Eric..."

Comfortingly, the Doctor put his arms around his two companions and began to lead the way back. He lead them away from the house.

"I just realised where I knew the name Elizabeth Towning from."

.

He took the two teenagers into the TARDIS and rushed over to a store. He flipped open the box. He pulled a memory stick like object from the large crate. He handed it to Luke and told him to plug it into the TARDIS console. Luke did as he was asked and, after a few seconds, a song burst into the air. It was a love song and it was sung by a familiar voice.

"Is that Elizabeth?" Penny asked.

"Yes, Elizabeth Towning. This was her first album." the Doctor grinned. "Go to the end."

Luke paused and then managed to fast forwards the end.

"Hello. I'm Elizabeth Towning." Elizabeth's voice said over the speakers. "I want to dedicate this album to my mother and congratulate Matt and Mary for the fifteenth year of their marriage. Finally, I want to thank, the Doctor, Penny and Luke."

There was a pause and then a song began to drift through the speakers.

"Miss Polly had a dolly who was sick, sick, sick..."

The Doctor grinned and pulled a lever. The engine started.

.

"Well, next time." Penny said. "If there is a next time."

"There will be, I think. Since I'm at your fourth wedding."

"Fourth?"

"Fourth attempt." the Doctor answered. "Stick in there, Penny. I think this time it might not be invaded or attacked and the Groom is not an alien clone this time."

"Okay. I'll bear that in mind." Penny managed.

"Penny, you're a great sister and I heard about the Slitheens and how you handled that and with the Dalek on top of everything else..."

Penny looked at the Doctor. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a parcel wrapped in some sort of old fabric.

"I've been working on this. I was told to wait for your birthday but I want to give them to you in person."

He handed Penny the parcel and got her to unwrap it. Her eyes lit up.

"The watch is a scanner watch, just like your mum's, apart from I've put a direct link from yours to Mr Smith, in case you need to contact him. The key is very special. It's to the TARDIS."

"Thank you." Penny said and hugged him.

The Doctor smiled and let Penny cling to him happily.

"Just promise me that you'll keep safe, okay? And no guns."

"Okay." Penny smiled.

The Doctor pulled her hands from around him and kissed her forehead. Then he disappeared into the TARDIS. Sarah Jane and Luke came racing up, just to see the TARDIS leave. Penny was holding her gift in her hand. She smiled down at it and then looked at her mother.

"Guess what, mum, the Doctor gave me a present."


	25. The last Sontaran part 1

Hey, sorry it has been a long time. I have been really busy with GCSEs. Another month and I will have more time.

Enjoy and please review!

I don't own anything you recognise.

"So the two of you travelled in time and space and you didn't even think to call me?" Sarah Jane exclaimed, looking at her two children.

Penny was playing with her watch and Luke was feeling slightly guilty. He told Sarah Jane that he hadn't been sure about them going without calling her.

Then Clyde came in and smiled, looking at Luke and Penny. He moved towards Penny and slipped his arm around her. She hadn't told him about her trip in the TARDIS despite Luke suggesting she should.

"Are we going to do this history project then?" Clyde asked, holding up a video game.

Luke smiled and got up, rushing towards Clyde. The both disappeared up to the attack.

"History project?" Sarah Jane murmured.

"Yeah, Clyde suggested they used a video game to explore the techniques used at Waterloo. This was the best choice."

"Best choice?"

"It was either this or them doing a report on the battle of the Hoth."

Suddenly Penny's watch began to bleep. Sarah Jane went to hers before realising it was her daughter's.

"Mr Smith has something to say." Penny announced.

She went to go upstairs and Sarah Jane watched her go. She could remember holding Penny for the first time and now her daughter had travelled in space and time, been given gifts by a Time Lord and had a boyfriend. Penny was growing up so fast and Sarah Jane hoped that, wherever Jonathan was, he was watching Penny with the same pride she had.

.

"Mr Smith, pause game." Penny said as she walked into the attic.

The boys both turned to her with a sigh as Mr Smith paused their game.

"Hello, Penny. I was wondering if you could make your mother aware of a sighting of strange lights in the sky. I believe she might want to write a story about it."  
>Penny moved closer to the computer, smiling due to the sense of adventure.<p>

Do you think it's aliens? Is that why you were monitoring it?"

"We both know that strange lights in the sky are not always caused by extraterrestrials." Mr Smith said.

Then Sarah Jane walked in. The children brought her up to speed and she quickly decided that they should go and look.

"Come on." she said.

.

As they stood by the car, Maria walked up. She had just got the news that her dad had a job in America. As she watched her friends, she realised that this could be their last adventure together. She didn't know if her dad was going to say yes but she knew him well enough to know he was tempted.

"Hey, Maria, want to join us on a story?" Penny inquired.

"Strange lights in a place called Goblin's Copse. Sounds fun."

"Might as well go while I still can."

Sarah Jane frowned but ignored the comment. She then climbed into the car with Maria and the others and drove off.

.

The group studied the building as Sarah Jane pulled up outside. The building was dark and dirty with a large radio areal sticking out of its flat roof. It was old and had a large contrast to the magnificent woods that were just across the uneven concrete car park. There were only two cars in the car park: Sarah Jane's and a blue family car they guessed was owned by someone in the building.

"The Tycho project is a network of radio telescopes around the world, looking for friendly life in outer space."

Penny smiled at what was presumably a fond memory.

"Remember the one near Cornwall?" she asked her mother. "There was that Hoix and we had to chase it around with a red bucket."

Sarah Jane nodded, smiling. However she continued to explain the project.

"This particular one used to be a Cold War listening station."

"Impressive. Instead of listening to the Russians, it's listening out for aliens." Luke remarked.

Clyde frowned and asked why aliens hadn't been spotted by then.

"The aliens that are invading want to get to Earth without being spotted." Maria reasoned.

Sarah Jane listened to the children joke around. She smiled, shaking her head. She forgot about her anger at Penny and Luke travelling through time, willing to just settle for spending time with them.

"Come on." she said, leading the way in.

.

"Hello?" Sarah Jane called, leading the way into a deserted control room.

She scanned the room. It seemed to have just been abandoned.

"Is anyone here? Hello?" she called out again.

"It's like the Mary Celeste." Penny remarked, moving towards a work bench.

Clyde joined her. Maria and Luke had gone over to the main computer beach. Luke was working quickly, checking the machines.

"Everything is operational." he stated.

"But there's no one here." Maria remarked.

Clyde picked up a cup of tea he had found on the work beach. He tilted it towards the others, almost as if he was offering them a drink.

"Tea break?" he asked.

Sarah Jane took the cup from him, going to put it back. She frowned when she realised that there was no heat coming off from the cup.

"It's stone cold. As if they just ran off. Dropped everything and left."

"Lottery win?" Clyde suggested.

Everyone looked at him, frowning. He sighed and told them he was just trying to be positive.

"Not aliens, hey. Mr Smith knows his stuff." Penny remarked, sitting on the desk next to her brother.

Luke was going through the records while Maria was watching over his shoulder.

"According to the data records, the antenna was in place to observe Rigel Beta Five last night at twenty two O eight. But there seems to have been a burst of interference." Luke announced.

The time was familiar to Sarah Jane and she informed the group that, at ten O'clock, the lights had been the sky.

"So the people of Rigel Beta Five don't like telescopes being pointed at them. Like popping the paparazzi on the nose." Clyde said.

"Oh, Clyde, it wouldn't be the same without you." Maria remarked, sadly.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not going anywhere."

Luke was continuing to work on the computer. Then a young woman ran in. She was panting. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"Something in the wood. There's something in the wood." the young woman sped.

Then she lulled forwards. Penny rushed towards her and caught her.

"She's fainted." Penny remarked.

"There's a sofa in one of the side rooms. I saw it on the way in. Should we move it out here or...?"

Clyde was already moving to collect it so Luke hurried after him. Sarah Jane looked at Maria and told her to try and find out who the young woman was. When the boys returned with the sofa, Penny placed the young woman on it. Sarah Jane then instructed the boys to go and collect some food and drink for when the young woman woke up.

"I can tell you want to talk." Penny said.

Sarah Jane nodded. She moved towards her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Penny, I want you to know how proud of you I am. You're a great sister to Luke. You save the world. You're one of the bravest people I've ever met."

"There's going to be a but. There's always a but."

Sarah Jane shook her head at her daughter.

"I know that your dad isn't here but you can ask anyone – he'd be so proud. Of you, of the way you let Luke into the family."

Penny smiled. She was often told by people that her father would be proud of her but it was different when it came from her mother.

Maria walked in and frowned. She went to leave them alone but Penny looked over at her and offered her in. She had come back empty handed. Luke came in, telling them that Clyde had found a kettle and taking orders.

.

When Clyde came in with drinks, the young woman was beginning to stir. Penny helped the woman sit up and gave her a welcoming smile.

"Here." Clyde said, offering his drink to the young woman. "Drink this."

The young woman took the mug in her shaking hands and studied the liquid inside it.

"Thank you." the young woman said, slowly.

Clyde told her that it was no trouble.

"Have you seen my dad?" the young woman asked, her eyes flicking across the group.

"No, the place was empty when we got here." Maria answered.

The young woman frowned so Sarah Jane introduced herself and her friends.

"I'm Lucy." the young woman said. "My dad is Professor Nicholas Skinner."

She explained her experience with the lights but it was fractured and nervous. She was struggling to make sense.

"What did you see in the woods?" Luke asked, calmly.

"I couldn't see it. It was like it was there and it wasn't." Lucy answered.

"Like it was invisble?" Penny inquired, excited.

Lucy nodded and then began to worry about her dad. Maria could really feel for her. She had been extremely worried about her dad in the past, especially when dealing with the Gorgon. She considered that it might be the best idea to move away and leave the life behind her.

"You don't have to worry. We'll find your dad." Penny assured her. "We'll go find him right now."

Penny went to go. Clyde and Luke went to follow her.

"Just a minute." Sarah Jane said. "No one is going into those woods until I know what we're dealing with."

Luke could work out why Penny wanted to find Lucy's dad. He guessed that Elizabeth and her dad had related to her. The look Luke gave Sarah Jane suggested that she should let them go.

"You can look around the observatory but stay in the buildings. If Luke or Penny go into the woods, you're both grounded and Clyde... Just..." Sarah Jane eneded up trailing off, shaking her head.

.

The trio had explored the buildings and had found it empty. They were standing outside the end building, staring across the car park.

"He's in there." Penny remarked, looking out at the woods.

"Mum said we shouldn't go in there." Luke pointed out. "We'll get grounded."

"She meant all the way in." Clyde said, standing beside his girlfriend. "We'll just nose around the edges."

Penny smiled, taking Clyde's hand and walking towards the wood.

"I don't like it when you two gang up on me." Luke informed the duo, following after them.

.

From deep in the woods, someone watched the trio. They brushed aside a branch to get a better view and then moved back to follow from a distance.

.

"Lucy's sleeping." Sarah Jane said, having moved Lucy into a room just off from the main control room. "She must be exhausted."

Maria was scanning the papers that had been left out. She had found a picture of Lucy and her dad nearby.

"Should we ring the police about her dad?" Maria asked.

Sarah Jane shook her head sadly. She wanted to believe it was something the police could handle but her instincts were telling her that it wasn't. It would only put more people in danger.

"I have a feeling that there's something you want to tell me." Sarah Jane said, trying to distract herself from the fact that her two children were out there.

"My dad's been offered a new job." Maria revealed.

Sarah Jane couldn't see why it was such a problem.

"In America." Maria added.

Sarah Jane looked at her friend with wide eyes. She couldn't believe that their perfect little group was being pulled apart so soon after being formed.

"He applied for a job in London." Maria explained. "And then, out of the blue, he was offered a job in the head offices in Washington."

"Well, that's excellent news." Sarah Jane said, not truly believing it.

"But how can I leave this all behind?" she asked, looking around the building.

She couldn't imagine her life without aliens. She couldn't think of a world where she didn't drop everything to save the world and still come home to help her dad cook. It just didn't register with her.

"Nothing stays the same forever." she informed Maria, putting her hands on Maria's shoulders. "If there's anything I've learnt in life, people move on."

Maria was horrified. It was like Sarah Jane had reverted back to her frosty nature. It was hard for her to see it, to feel pushed away by Sarah Jane.

"Why are you being like this?" she asked. "I don't want to go. I'm sorry."

"You have no need to be sorry. You'll love living in America." Sarah Jane said, knowing that she needed to get Maria to go.

.

Chrissie had just heard the news. She was shocked by it, feeling as if she was going to lose her daughter.

"You've only just finished redecorating." she protested.

"It's the job of a life time." Alan said.

Chrissie asked him if he was going to take it. Alan told her he hadn't decided, that it involved more than just him. Chrissie asked about Maria.

"Maria didn't think anything could change our lives more than they've already had." Alan reported. "But she wasn't expecting this. Neither of us were."

Alan sighed and groaned, knowing that the decision was going to be really hard.

.

"I hate woods." Clyde moaned. "The city is civilisation; woods are..."

"I'm spending too much time in woods right now." Penny said.

Luke rolled his eyes, reminding the two of them that he had told them they shouldn't go in. They began to joke around happily. It all stopped when there was a snap from behind them. The trio turned and frowned.

"What was that?" Clyde breathed.

"Maybe it was Professor Skinner." Luke suggested.

Penny frowned and shook her head. She couldn't see anyone through the mass of trees and she doubted that the Professor would be good at hiding in the forests.

"I can feel the hair on the end of my neck standing on end." Clyde murmured.

He looked over at the Smith children, seeing that the same thing had happened to them.

"It's strange. So can I." Luke answered, rubbing the back of his neck.  
>"It's not strange. It's just plain creepy."<p>

"Of the result of an electrostatic field. There's something here." Luke murmured.

Penny instantly whipped up her watch, scanning the area.

"A cloaking field." she breathed.

She squinted through the trees and frowned. She could see a smugded outline of a round helmet.

"There." she said, pointing out.

She continued to scan the cloaked figure, trying to work out what was going on.

"Maybe it can't see us." Clyde mused, hopefully.

"No, Clyde, I think it sees us." Penny answered, watching as the outline shifted.

"It's studying us." Luke concluded.

Penny's watch bleeped to stay it had finished it's readings. She studied it and began to report it to the two boys, loud enough for the invisible spy to hear.

"From the Melasaran Galaxy, a humanoid clone life form. A few years old... NO."

Luke looked at his sister. She had paled. She was almost shaking.

"Not here." Penny breathed.

The outline was reaching towards its arm. Blue armour was forming. It hid a compact warrior. The warrior began to raise his weapon.  
>"Run!" Luke ordered.<p>

Both boys raced away. Penny was frozen to the spot, staring at the alien.

"Alien technology." a gruff voice announced, studying Penny. "A gift, I presume, from the Doctor."

"You know who I am?" Penny managed.

"My files state that you are, Penelope Smith. Daughter of Jonathan Carter and Sarah Jane Smith." the alien informed her.

He pointed his weapon at Penny once more. That was when Clyde bounded out, slamming into Penny. He knocked her to the ground and, in reaction, the alien fired. A tree behind them exploded.

They raced though the woods, following Luke. The alien began to chase them, screaming in rage. As soon as they were far enough ahead, the trio of teenagers ducked into a small ditch. The alien raced past and Clyde looked at Penny.  
>"What was that?" he asked her.<p>

Penny didn't answer. She started moving off.

.

"This is wrong. We didn't come this way." Luke informed the others, nervously.

Penny was leading the way. She was following a large scar in the ground, saying that it would reach a road. Every so often she would check her phone, finding that she didn't have any signal.

"Who are you trying to call? Mum?" Luke asked.

"No, UNIT."

There was silence from the two boys and she sighed. She looked back at them, seeing the shock in their eyes.

"We don't have a choice." Penny said.

Then her watch began to bleep. She glared at it and frowned.

"Another eletrostatic field." she informed the boys.

She pointed towards a slight section of haze and Luke walked forwards. He ran his hands over it, realising that it was a curve.

.

Lucy woke up and looked around, nervous. She looked over at Sarah Jane. Maria had left to think and Sarah Jane had been checking on Lucy at the time.

"What's happened? Is dad back?" she asked.

"No, Lucy, but I have people looking for him." Sarah Jane replied.

"I have to find him!" Lucy rushed, getting up.

Sarah Jane told her to stay put. Lucy got up and began to storm off. Maria caught her in the doorway and told her to calm down. Lucy allowed herself to be lead back in and sat on the seat near the desk.

"You need to trust us." Maria said.

"I don't even know who you are." Lucy replied.

Sarah Jane informed her that they knew about things like it and asked her to tell them about the lights. Lucy described them as football like. She had said they were circling the dish. It only went to help Clyde's suspicion of it being a problem with the telescope.

"So not space ships then?" Maria mused.

"You never know. The Vorkazian hordes of Meta Vorka Six travel around in spaceships the size of tea cups." Sarah Jane informed her friend. "However, I think that they could have been drones."

Lucy was shocked about the idea of aliens and Sarah Jane tried to explain to her that aliens did exist.

That was when the door opened and a man walked in. Everyone looked towards the door and Lucy smiled joyfully when she recognised the figure.  
>"Dad!" she squealed, leaping up and running to him.<p>

She hugged her father but he didn't move to hug her back. He attempted to continue walking. When he said he had been looking for his daughter, he didn't even look towards her. Sarah Jane could tell that something was really wrong. If it had been Penny or Luke, she would have been overjoyed at seeing them safe but checking them over for any injuries.

Sarah Jane introduced herself but was brushed off harshly by Professor Skinner who told her to leave. When the Professor said he needed a word in private with his daughter, Sarah Jane took Maria and left.

.

"There's something wrong here." Maria pointed out, looking back at the facility as they left.

Sarah Jane agreed and said that she wanted to find out more. Then her phone rang. She frowned when she saw it was from Luke. She scanned the tree line, looking for signs of her children and their friend but she couldn't see anyone. Nervous, she answered the call.

.

Lucy was trying her best to get something from her dad. She was desperate for a sign he was okay but he was giving her nothing. She brought him a coffee and placed it on the desk next to him. He was working and didn't even look up as she placed the cup down.

"Dad, are you alright?" she asked when he didn't even seem to notice her.

Suddenly Professor Skinner got to his feet. He looked towards Lucy and began to walk towards her. Lucy was scared by the lack of emotion. The man seemed so alien and she saw terrified. She backed away and tripped, hitting her head against the floor. She passed out.

.

Sarah Jane and Maria were met at the woods by Luke because he could easily remember the way. Sarah Jane frowned that they had gone into the woods but was more nervous about the idea that they had found something. Luke had sounded very worried about the way Penny was acting.

"She's really scared, mum, terrified. The alien knew who she was, who you and Jonathan Carter are, and it terrified her." Luke revealed, whispering so Maria couldn't hear.

"Penny has a past with lots of aliens. Some of the ones she dealt with when she was very young still terrify her." Sarah Jane explained.

She did, however, gasp when she saw Penny pacing nervously. Clyde was trying to calm his girlfriend down but there was little he could do. Penny moved towards Sarah Jane.

"I think it's the..."

"Penny, it's okay." Sarah Jane said, gripping her daughter's arm comfortingly. "I'll find out what they are and then we'll know how to deal with them."

Luke got Sarah Jane's attention and moved towards the large round object. He hand his hands over the surface so Maria and Sarah Jane could see it.

"I think it's a perception camouflage matrix and that the alien is using one too."

"Well, lets see what it is then." Sarah Jane said, fishing her sonic out of her pocket.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye so she could check on her daughter. Maria had moved over to Penny and was comforting her, not even asking about why Penny was so scared and angry.

Sarah Jane soniced the craft and gasped as it appeared. She almost dropped her sonic. Instantly her eyes went to Penny. She could understand why her daughter was acting so strangely.

"We have to get out of here. Right now. To the car, quickly!" Sarah Jane ordered, unable to take her eyes from the large black circular craft.

"What is it?" Clyde asked, looking from the alien ship to Sarah Jane to Penny.

"It's too big for us. Penny, get on the phone, call up UNIT." Sarah Jane said.

"But, mum, they'll ask why we were here." Penny said, nervously. "And that'll lead to questions that we can't answer."

"We were here on a story, now call them." Sarah Jane snapped.

Penny fished her phone out of her pocket. All eyes were on Sarah Jane.

"You don't like the military. You've never wanted to call in UNIT before."

Clyde, Maria and Luke were looking at Sarah Jane for an explanation. Sarah Jane didn't want to give them one but she knew that they would pester Penny if she didn't tell them.

"That is a Sontaran space pod. I've seen some before, and I prayed that I would never see another. The Sontarans are brutal killers. If there are Sontarans here then we are in trouble. Very big trouble. They only ever have one thing on their minds. Conquest."

"Drop the communication device, female halfling." a voice growled.

Penny frowned and lowered her phone. The alien was standing in front of her. The Sontaran pressed a button on his armour and his helmet pulled back. It revealed burnt tough skin. The Sontaran had his gun pointed at Penny and, when she slipped her phone away, he flicked the gun towards the other teenagers.

"I am so off baked spuds." Clyde remarked.

His remark gained a smile from Penny and he grinned at her, assuring her.

"Consider yourselves prisoners of war." the Sontaran sneered.

Sarah Jane moved slowly closer to her children. She noticed that Penny had steeled herself and had suddenly become very angry.

"Who are you? What are you doing on Earth?"

"I am Commander Kaagh, attached to the Tenth Sontaran Fleet. Kaagh the Slayer, soon to be Kaagh the Avenger. Kaagh the Destroyer." the Sontaran announced.

Clyde made a joke but Sarah Jane told him to be quiet. She didn't want Kaagh to single out any of the teenagers.

"You set up the lights, didn't you?" Penny growled.

"Simple drones to draw the primitves out of the radio telescope." Kaagh said. "You are my prisoners. Move."

No one moved. Kaagh grinned and pointed his compact weapon at Sarah Jane.

"Do you wish for a Sontaran to take away Penelope's other parent? We have already stolen her father."

Luke, Maria and Clyde turned towards Penny and Sarah Jane. They now understood why Penny had reacted so badly to the Sontaran. They now understood why they needed to get away. Maria had an idea. She pointed behind the Sontaran and shouted that it was UNIT. When the Sontaran turned, the group raced off, splitting up. Sarah Jane, Penny and Clyde rushed off in one direction, Luke and Maria rushed off in the other.

.

When they were sure they were not being followed, Sarah Jane, Penny and Clyde slowed down to a walk. Clyde was leading the way, Sarah Jane constantly checking over her shoulder.  
>"Do you know where you're going?" Sarah Jane asked.<p>

Clyde shook his head and said he was just trying to get as far away from the Sontaran as possible.

"The telescope. Lucy and her dad... They'll be in danger." Penny said. "Kaagh's done something to him."

Sarah Jane gave her daughter a nod and pointed in the direction of the telescope. Clyde moved off towards the telescope. Sarah Jane caught Penny's arm and held her daughter back.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you. I would never let him hurt either you or Luke." Sarah Jane said.

She pulled her daughter into a hug and rubbed her back.

"A Sontaran took your father from me. I will not let another take you."

"Promise me you'll keep safe." Penny requested.

.

Professor Skinner's fingers were rushing over the keyboard. He was working the computers, setting up new computer programmes. Sarah Jane walked in, followed by Clyde and Penny.

"Seems like we beat Kaagh here." Penny murmured, looking around.

They moved closer to Skinner, wondering what he was doing. Then Clyde noticed something blinking on the back of Skinner's neck. He lowered the collar and the trio stared at it.

"What is that?" Clyde asked.

"Some sort of neural control implant. It's not as good as normal Sontaran controls." Penny said.

"They normally use hypnosis."

"Is he dangerous?" Clyde asked.

Sarah Jane paused. She shook her head and told the teenagers that Skinner should be safe.

"Where's Lucy?" Penny asked, looking around.

"Maybe I can fix what Kaagh has done." Sarah Jane mused, producing her sonic.

Then a voice called out in the control room.

"Put it down, female!" Kaagh shouted, sneering down the room.

.

Luke and Maria stared at the radio telescope building. They were just hidden by the tree line, just far enough out to not been seen unless you knew what you were actually looking for.

"How do you know Mum'll be in there?" Luke asked.

"Lucy." Maria reasoned. "She'd need to check on here. And this is in the middle of this whole thing."

Luke frowned and reasoned that it would also be the place that Kaagh would go.

"We have to find a way of getting in there without him seeing."

Both looked around. Luke spotted something a small distance away and got up. He moved towards it and saw it was a manhole cover. He shot Maria a smile and reached down to pull up the manhole cover.

.

"The first law of the battlefield. Think like your enemy. You didn't escape me. You saved me the trouble of your escort." Kaagh said.  
>"What about my two friends?" Sarah Jane asked. "They escaped."<p>

At least, she hoped they escaped. She was suddenly terrified that something very bad had happened to Luke and Maria.

"Half forms, worth nothing compared to Sarah Jane and Penelope Smith." Kaagh spat.

Clyde looked at Sarah Jane and Penny. Both of them had managed to keep their emotions under control.

"Why is Professor Skinner hacking into the access codes of the satelittes that orbit the Earth?" Penny asked.

Kaagh smiled at Penny and then looked up at the screen which displayed Skinner's work.

"I am the sole survivor of the Tenth Sontaran Fleet's Earth invasion force."  
>"Sole survivor?" Clyde repeated. "We've already beaten you."<p>

Kaagh paused and growled.

He recapped the Sontaran plan and then revealed with was the Doctor who defeated them. Sarah Jane glanced at Penny and at the gift from the Doctor that Penny had recently been given. It wouldn't take Kaagh too much to link Penny with the time traveller. Penny, however, used the fact to intimidate the Sontaran.

"Well, that's great. I just got back from a trip with the Doctor. In fact he's my godfather. I could call him if you..."

"Yeah, so you better watch out." Clyde challenged.

"It is you who are in peril. I should take you back to Sontar to pay for his crimes. For what he has done to me."

Then they noticed a large scar on Kaagh's face. He pointed a stubby finger at it and Clyde moved forwards slighty. He took in the scar.

"The Doctor did that to you."

Then Kaagh told his story. He told them how he had been about to go to Earth when the mother ship was blown up and he was sent hurtling to Earth. He told them about how he wanted revenge and was going to take it by reducing the world to a cinder.

"By dropping satellites out of the sky?" Penny murmured.

"But satellites are always dropping out of the sky. They land in the ocean and there's no trouble." Clyde reasoned, looking at Penny and Sarah Jane.

He could sense he was wrong. Sarah Jane was worried and that made him very nervous.

"We guide them into the sea, Clyde." Sarah Jane said. "I think Kaagh might be planning something much more dramatic."

Kaagh revealed his targets with a dark smile: the Earth's nuclear reactors.

"And when does this happen?" Penny asked.

She wanted to know how long they had and was forming a plan that would involve finding Luke. A countdown appeared on the screen along with Professor Skinner's work. The group turned and were gasped to see that they only had fourty five minutes.

"Forget it!" Clyde shouted, storming towards Kaagh. "No way is Earth going to go down to the Baked Spud from Outer Space."

Kaagh grabbed Clyde's arm in a vice like grip. Clyde winced in pain.

"You defiance is good, half form." Kaagh growled, looking at Clyde.

His gun was still pointed at Sarah Jane and Penny. Luke and Maria appeared at a grilled hatch and took the scene in. They were horrified.

"We have to do something." Luke breathed, looking at it all.

Maria silently nodded.

"Our battle intelligence on semi-developed organisms is incomplete. The countdown will give me time to expand it with the experiments I shall perform on you." Kaagh sneered at Clyde.

Penny moved forwards. She wasn't going to let the Sontaran hurt Clyde.

"Don't you lay a finger on him!" Penny shouted.

Kaagh looked at her for the briefest moment and then fired his weapon. Sarah Jane raced forwards as her daughter fell to the ground. Maria sensed Luke tense. Clyde started shouting and struggling, desperate to get to Penny.

Sarah Jane knelt beside Penny and attempted to check her daughter over. Kaagh fired another shot. It hit Sarah Jane and she fell to the floor.


	26. The last Sontaran part 2

"NO! Sarah Jane!" Clyde shouted, managing to break out of the Sontaran's grip.

He rushed to Penny and Sarah Jane, checking them both over. Kaagh watched the scene with a disgusted frown.

"They live. The two females are my prize to take back to Sontar once Earth is destroyed. There, they will pay for the Doctor's crimes." the Sontaran said with a smug tone.

Clyde tried to revive the pair but neither stirred. He looked up at Kaagh, furious.

"We'll stop you. There's only one of you."  
>"One Sontaran is all it takes." Kaagh said.<p>

He studied Clyde for a few seconds and then looked at Skinner.

"Secure them with the other female." he instructed.

Skinner came for Penny first. At first Clyde went to resist and stop him from taking her but he didn't have a choice. He watched as Skinner moved Penny and Sarah Jane into a room off to the side.

.

Luke was battling to stay calm. He was still horrified that the Sontaran had shot his mother and sister and things weren't getting any better since he had seen them being dragged off by Skinner.

"We need to do something." Maria murmured to him.

Luke nodded and they both stayed hidden waiting for the right time to make a move.

.

Clyde was still kneeling on the floor when Kaagh grabbed him. He was dragged to his feet and winced as Kaagh tightened his grip.

"Your species' biology is primitive. Laboratory analysis at my ship could provide valuable information for the High Command." Kaagh announced.

Clyde struggled to get free, looking for an escape route. His eyes widened as a grill in the corner of the room was pushed open. He could see Maria and Luke inside, shouting at him to join them. Clyde threw his elbow back, hoping that it would allow him to get free. Kaagh released him and stumbled back, giving Clyde enough time to dart across the room and into the grill. He slipped inside and Maria replaced the grill, all of them disappearing away.

Kaagh let out a loud growl, stormed forwards and wrenched the grill away. He then gave chase.

.

With longer legs, the children were faster but they had little idea of where they were heading. They kept stopping to look down passages, waiting for Luke to point them the way he and Maria had come.

"Boy, that guy has a big case of little man complex." Clyde joked as they ran along.

Any jokes he had lined up were silenced when a red blast slammed into the concrete wall of the underground bunker. The teenagers pushed on, driving as fast as they could through the maze of bare concrete walls. They could hear Kaagh's angry cries echoing around and it was impossible to tell how close he was.

"Which way?" Maria asked as they came to a junction.  
>"This way." Luke answered.<p>

He ran down the corridor. The others followed him, quickly. Soon Kaagh found the junction. He stopped and sniffed the air, looking around. He smiled as he got the scent and then followed them.

It was getting darker in the tunnels. The lights rarely worked and the ones that did were on their last legs. They were trusting Luke's memory completely but even Luke was sounding unsure. He was sure he had missed a turning in the darkness. However he knew that they didn't have time to stop and wait.

"I can't see." Clyde moaned.

Another cry echoed around. This one seemed louder than any of the others had been.

"He's catching up!" Maria gasped.

They pressed on harder than they had before. Each of them were getting tired. They all wanted to stop for a rest but they knew they couldn't risk it.

"How far does this bunker go on for?" Clyde panted as he ran.

"Miles." Luke answered simply.

Clyde remarked about how the bunker could be really useful if Kaagh did manage to crash the satellites but no one wanted to think about that. They suddenly found a set of stairs. Luke watched the stairs for a few seconds. They hadn't come across a set of stairs on their way in.

"I think I took a wrong turn, sorry." Luke said.

Clyde pushed his friend up the stairs, telling him that it didn't matter. There was a door at the top of the stairs and sunlight was creeping in around it. They tried the handle but it was rusted shut.

"Come on." Clyde moaned, giving all his strength into opening the handle.

The other teenagers did the same and, with a metallic groan, the door opened. Kaagh rushed up the stairs, blasting towards the teenagers as they slipped out of the door. They pressed the door shut on the Sontaran. Luke looked around. He was desperate to find something he could use to wedge the door. He stopped when he saw a log. Racing towards it, he picked it up and returned to the door. Clyde and Maria had pressed themselves against it, keeping Kaagh from escaping. They managed to wedge the door with the log and smiled at their handy work.

As Kaagh beat against the door and the log stayed in place, they turned to hurry away.

.

Sarah Jane gasped as she sat up. She felt dizzy and slightly sick. She rubbed her head and realised that she had been put on the floor in a small room. Her eyes widened as her memories flooded back and she glanced around.

"Penny?" she managed, her throat dry.

She smiled slightly when she saw her daughter was slumped in an armchair in the room. Penny was still unconscious but Sarah Jane was relieved to see her.

Slowly she looked around the room. It was a small narrow room taken up mostly by two desks and the armchair. Both of the desks were littered with pieces of equipment and there was a watercooler in the corner. Sarah Jane gasped as she saw movement but relaxed when she saw it was Lucy. She was offered a drink from Lucy and got to her feet.

"Where's Clyde?" Sarah Jane asked as Lucy handed her a cup of water.

"I don't know. Dad looked you and her in here." Lucy answered.

She looked very worried as she asked Sarah Jane what was wrong with her dad. Having drunk her water, Sarah Jane knelt down beside the armchair and tried to revive Penny. The girl's eyes opened after a few seconds and, although she looked confused, she offered her mother a small smile.

Sarah Jane got Penny a drink of water as she explained what had happened to Skinner.

"He's being controlled by an alien, a Sontaran." Sarah Jane said.

She looked at the armchair for Penny but Penny was trying the door. It was locked. Penny grumbled about their lack of sonic screwdriver. Sarah Jane moved towards her daughter. The teenager was playing with a piece of equipment.

"We need to get out of here." Penny said. "Who knows what Kaagh's doing to Clyde."

.

Alan was sitting in his kitchen still talking to Chrissie. She seemed to still be in disbelief about the whole idea of them moving.

"America?" she breathed. "You and Maria are moving to America."

"If I take the job." Alan said.

He tried to change the subject, bringing up the new sports car that Chrissie had parked on the street. Chrissie ignored it.

"It would be weird not having you around. I'll miss you."

"If I go." Alan stated.

Chrissie rolled her eyes and looked at him.  
>"Of course you'll go. You live for work. You always have." she told him.<p>

She looked away, looking out of the window and across the street. She couldn't take it all in. She knew that Alan would go. It was the right thing for him to do.

"That's what you don't understand." Alan said. "I live for Maria. I lived for Maria and you. That's all work was ever about – looking after you two. That's why whatever I do, it has to be right for Maria."

There was a pause and silence hung in the air. Chrissie went to say something but faltered and stayed quiet. Then Alan's phone rang. He answered it, frowning.

.

Maria, Luke and Clyde were in the woods, using them for cover. They were all standing around Maria's phone, the mobile being held in the middle of the group so they could all hear the conversation.

"Dad, you have to help us." Maria urged.

"Maria, slow down. What's going on?" Alan asked.

Maria looked between the two boys before answering her phone.

"We're at the Tycho Radio Telescope, near a village called Goblin's Copse. An alien called a Sontaran has captured Sarah Jane and Penny and we have only forty minutes until it destroys the Earth." Maria explained.

"We need you to help us talk to Mr Smith." Luke instructed.

.

"A jamming deivce?" Lucy said, not sounding convinced.

It was the best idea they the trio had had and it was one of the few things they were sure they could make.

"It should interfer with the radio telescope." Penny said with a small nod of confirmation.

"And we're meant to build it?" Lucy stammered.

She looked at the equipment they had lying around and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Sarah Jane asked, clearing one desk of equipment so they had space to work. "Haven't you inherited any scientific aptitude from your father?"  
>Lucy nodded and said she probably would be able to make one. She was just nervous about it being tracked to them. Sarah Jane told Lucy it was exactly the idea.<p>

.

Alan was heading towards Sarah Jane's house. Maria needed him and that meant he was willing to do anything to make sure his daughter was safe. Chrissie, however, was following him across the road.

"Where are you going Alan? Not to Mary-Jane's, surely?"

Alan looked back at Chrissie and tried to distract her by saying she should return Ivan's car.

"I have to do something for Maria." he added.

"What about Maria?" Chrissie asked.

Alan assured Chrissie that Maria was fine and that she had just left a library book at Sarah Jane's. He said he had agreed to pick it up and return it. Chrissie gave him a suspcious look but relaxed, turned away and walked back to her car. She told him that they still needed to talk through everything about America properly to which Alan nodded. He watched her drive off and then raced to get the spare key and get inside. Chrissie waited a few seconds before reversing back around the corner to check on him.

.

Alan walked into the attic. He slowed down, still mesmerised by it all, but then quickly recovered and looked towards the chimney breast.

"Mister Smith?" he called, not quite sure what he was meant to do.  
>He paused and thought back to the times that he had been there when Mr Smith had opened.<p>

"Mr Smith, I need you." he said with conviction.

The alien computer opened up with its usual fanfare and hiss and stated that it was strange that Alan was the one who had called him.

"It's that kind of day." Alan remarked.

He fished into his pocket, produced his phone and rung Maria.

.

Chrissie had crept into the garden and smiled when she saw that the window had been left open. She walked over to it and opened it more, climbing into the lounge.

.

Alan was up in the attic. Mr Smith was talking to his phone that Alan held out to the computer. The teenagers on the other end were taking in all the information they could.

"Sontarans are a clone species originating from the planet Sontar. They are fearless, well trained, strategically intellectual, and immensely strong." Mr Smith stated.

Luke asked if they had a weakness to which Mr Smith said they did. It was at this point that Chrissie crept into the attic. She was not noticed by anyone else in the room.

"Sontarans do not eat food. They intake pure energy by means of a probic vent at the base of their skull. This point is their sole weakness." Mr Smith announced.

"What on Earth is going on?" Chrissie demanded, having taken everything in.

Alan turned first, shocked. Maria began to demand what her mum was doing there over the phone. Chrissie continued to ask what was going on and Alan turned away, putting his phone to his ear.

"I think I'm going to have to call you back, Maria." he said and hung up.

.

Clyde let out a low whistle as Maria stared at her phone.

"Sarah Jane's not going to be happy." he remarked.

"It doesn't matter." Luke stated. "All that matters is saving mum and Penny."

Maria paused and then had an idea.

.

"A role-playing game?" Chrissie repeated incrediously.

She didn't believe Alan but he had hustled her out of the house and was trying to get her across the road.

"It's an internet thing." Alan lied. "Only some of it's in the real world. You know, looking for clues, solving puzzles."

Chrissie stopped walking. She looked Alan straight in the eyes and shook her head slowly.

"I don't believe you. I know when you're lying, Alan. I've always known."

She took a deep breath as she came to a sudden realisation.

"Maria's in danger, isn't she? And it's got something to do with Calamity Jane."

"Her name is Sarah Jane." Alan said.

He sighed and looked away. When he looked back he admitted that Sarah Jane fought aliens and Maria helped her.

"Aliens?" Chrissie breathed.  
>"Yes, they exist. What do you think almost brought the moon crashing down on us?" Alan asked. "Believe me?"<p>

Chrissie silently nodded. Alan looked shocked and, after a few seconds Chrissie explained that Alan's mouth twitched when he told a lie. It had twitched just then.

"Come on." Chrissie said. "We've got to help our daughter."

.

Clyde stared at the Sontaran ship. When Maria had lead them there he had been more than hesistant. Now he was almost ready to pull both Maria and Luke back.

"Whoa. This is your great idea? The Sontaran's space ship?" Clyde said.

"Kaagh said he had a laboratory. If Luke can make a knock out gas, we can use it on him." Maria said.

Clyde smiled at the plan and moved towards the space ship. Maria raced forwards and placed her hand on the control pad. Slowly the ship opened and Luke rushed to work.

.

Sarah Jane moved away from the desk. Lucy was working on the signal jammer and Penny was sitting in the armchair. Sarah Jane moved towards her daughter and stood in front of her.

She looked thoughtful.

"Penny?" Sarah Jane whispered, getting her daughter's attention but not distracting Lucy from her work.

Penny looked up at her mother and offered her a small smile.

"I was just thinking." Penny said. "I'm not much use building the signal jammer."

There was a pause between the two.  
>"I'm sorry me and Luke ran off with the Doctor to time travel." Penny admitted. "It was stupid and we should have at least told you before running off."<p>

Sarah Jane shook her head and said it didn't matter.

"But you could have lost me and Luke and, with all this, I know I couldn't stand it if something happened and you would be alone." Penny told her mother.

Sarah Jane sat down on the arm of the armchair. She put her arm around her daughter.

"I was just worried, okay. You and Luke put yourselves in danger so much but I'm normally there to help. The idea of you fighting a Dalek and then being some where I couldn't do anything to help, I was worried."

There was a pause as Sarah Jane looked down.

"In a few days, I'm going to be away for a little bit. I was going to bring you and Luke with me but I feel that you and Luke need a rest and would be fine in the house by yourself. Alan can check on you and it'll only be for five days at most." Sarah Jane said.

"You've never left me home alone before." Penny told her.

Sarah Jane nodded and told Penny that it seemed right.

"You're handling everything so well. I'll have to tell Luke but it should be fine." Sarah Jane said.

Penny smiled and hugged her mother.

.

Clyde frowned and Luke scanned the test tubes. The genius was picking up each test tube, studying it for a moment and then deciding if it was useful or not.

"We don't even know what half of these are." Clyde moaned. "They're alien."

Luke smirked and pointed at each of the chemicals, naming them.

"Dylixium chloride, Korazic acid, Lyzirium phosphate. Chemistry lessons with Mister Smith are much more fun than at school." Luke told them.

He continued to search through the chemicals. Then an alarm sounded. Luke looked around and his eyes settled on a motion sensor.

"What is that?" Maria asked from where she had been keeping watch.

"I think we just tripped an alarm." Luke admitted.

.

Kaagh was in a good mood. He had only twenty minutes until his plan would go into action and the half-forms had made no attempt to stop him since he had captured Sarah Jane and Penny. Everything was going well.

Then there was a bleeping. He frowned and looked down at one of his wrist gaunlets of his armour.

"Intruders on my ship." he said thoughtfully.

Then he came to a conclusion. His smile deepened.

"The half forms. Like bugs on a battle-trench bunk, it is time to crush them."

He marched out of the room, heading towards his ship.

.

Maria was getting desperate. Although they all knew Luke was mixing the chemicals as fast as he could, it felt painfully slow. She urged him to hurry up.

Then Clyde walked past her, heading into the forest. Maria stopped him.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"If I can spot Kaagh coming," Clyde said. "I'll be able to buy you some time."

Maria told him to be careful and Clyde offered her a confident smirk. Internally, however, he was not feeling confident at all.

"See you back at the telescope." he said.

.

Lucy and Penny watched as Sarah Jane plugged in the machine. It buzzed a little bit.

"Now what?" Lucy asked.

Sarah Jane told them both that now they just had to wait.

Penny shifted uncomfortably and asked what they were meant to do if it didn't work.  
>"It will work." Sarah Jane assured her, forcing the little confidence she had into her voice.<p>

.

Luke was continuing his work in the spaceship. Anxious to think of something other than the danger they were in, Maria found herself looking through photos on her phone. She thought about everything they had done and found her thoughts drifting to America. If she went then she would lose all that she had. As if fate was taunting her, the phone suddenly flashed up a message saying the battery was low and Maria was forced to put her phone away so she had at least some power in case of emergency.

She sat in silence, listening to Luke work until it became impossible to stay silence any more.

"You know, Luke, I don't think I will ever meet anyone like you again." Maria said.

Luke didn't even look up from his work as he answered.

"You don't need to. You've got me."

Maria found herself unable to hold it in any longer. It felt cruel that he didn't know.

"My dad's got a job in America." she managed.

Luke stopped. He turned and looked at her. He looked sad and confused and it hurt Maria to see him like that.

"You can't go. I don't want you to go." Luke pleaded.

Maria had to look away. She couldn't cope when she looked at him. She looked down at the ground and frowned.

"But Luke, it's my dad." she reasoned. "I can't just tell him not to take the job."

When Luke spoke, his voice was little more than a whimper. He seemed heartbroken and it broke Maria's heart to know that she was the one causing it.

"But you've always been here."

Maria turned to look at him. There were tears swelling in his eyes and that brought tears into her own.

"I know, and I'm going to miss you so much. And Penny and Sarah Jane and Clyde."

She took a deep breath as she realised that none of it mattered. If Luke didn't focus then there wouldn't be an America for her to go to. She told Luke to get back to work. With great reluctance, Luke did as he was told.

.

Clyde ducked into hiding as he saw Kaagh walking through the forest. He took a deep breath to steel himself and then snatched up stick. He leapt out from behind the tree and threw it at Kaagh. "Hey! Over here!" he shouted.

Kaagh smiled at the idea of prey.

"By Sontar, I will crush you with my bare hands, Half-form!" Kaagh shouted and went chasing after Clyde.

.

Skinner entered the room that Sarah Jane, Penny and Lucy were trapped in. He looked around and his eyes landed on the jamming device. As he went to smash the device, the trio hurried out of the room and locked the door. They hurried out of the main lab and went to hide from Kaagh.

.

Clyde ran up to the observatory. He began to hammer against the door, hoping someone would let him in. He knew that the Sontaran would be closing in on him and he couldn't risk him catching up.

"Someone! Anyone! Let me in!" Clyde shouted.

Suddenly the door opened and Penny stood there.

"Penny!" Clyde smiled. "You are the best."

Penny smiled until she saw Kaagh running towards them.

"Quick." she said, opening the door more so Clyde could get in.

As soon as Clyde was in, Penny closed the door and locked the Sontaran out.

"I was worried sick." Penny said, leaning back against the door.

Clyde shot her a weak smile. He told her he had been the same.

"For a few moments I thought Kaagh had..."

He trailed off, looking away. Penny moved towards him.

"No one has succeeded in doing that yet." Penny remarked and kissed Clyde on the lips. She went to walk away when she stopped, seeing her mother and Lucy standing in front of her. She blushed and offered them a weak smile. Clyde walked up to her and took her hand in his.

"Don't we have a world to save?" Clyde asked, hoping to distract Sarah Jane and Lucy from what they had just seen.

.

Maria was trying not to cry as she watched Luke. He was working through his sorrow, focusing on anything other than the girl sitting only a meter away from him. None of them spoke or made eye contact, unable to do it due to the pain it caused. Then Luke smiled to himself.

"I've got it." he murmured, almost in disbelief. "I've made the knock out gas.

.

Clyde was explaining the plan to the others as they walked into the control room. Sarah Jane wasn't sure about the plan. She didn't know if they would have time to pull it off. She said that they should probably start on their own plan in case Luke and Maria's failed.

"I've seen my dad working." Lucy said, staring at the controls. "I can try and stop the program."

Slowly she moved forwards and took a seat. She was hesistant with the keys and felt awkward that there were three people crowding her. She soon came to the conclusion that it was encrypted and that they couldn't get in.

"If Luke was here, he would have this sorted by now." Clyde pointed out.

"Well, he's not here, is he? So we need another idea." Sarah Jane said.  
>"What about the dish? If we sabotage the dish somehow then the signal won't send." Penny suggested.<p>

They looked at Lucy to see if there was a way they could do it. After a few seconds, she nodded.

"There's an operating system." she said. "It's on the other side of the complex."

Sarah Jane grabbed her bag from the side and checked her sonic lipstick was still inside it.

"Lucy, stay here and see what you can do. We'll go to the dish." Sarah Jane instructed.

Penny and Clyde followed her out of the room.

.

Kaagh had managed to get into the building, having found another door. He had seen Penny by the door and wanted to see if the other prisoners had escaped. He had the feeling they had. He smashed opened the door and saw Skinner standing in the lab, standing over the broken remains of a signal jammer. Kaagh growled at him for letting them escape and then stormed out to find the prisoners once more.

.

Chrissie pulled her car over by Sarah Jane's and both her and Alan got out.

"I thought you said they were at a telescope." Chrissie said, pointing towards the forest.

"It must be nearby." Alan reasoned.

He fished into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He knew that if he could contact Maria and find them then he would feel a lot better about everything that was happening. If Sarah Jane and Penny had been captured like Maria had said then the other teenagers would be on their own.

"She's not answering." Alan managed when the phone went straight to answer phone. "Maybe it's run out of battery."

"Well, where do we go now, Alan? Maria's in danger and I hope I don't have to remind you who's fault that is." Chrissie said, glaring at Sarah Jane's car.

Alan sighed and lead the way into the forest.

.

Maria and Luke were just outside the observatory. They were closing in on the building, looking for a door they could use to get in. Luke was holding a black aerosal can that held his knock out gas.

"Are you sure the gas is going to work?" Maria asked.

Luke gave her a small but unsure nod. He said that it could knock out human for two hours. Maria asked how long it would work on a Sontaran.

"We only need a few minutes." Luke reasoned.

Then Maria heard a buzzing. She looked around and saw the two Sontaran drones. Luke looked up at them and the drones swooped down towards them. The duo started running.

However the drones were gaining on them and both knew it. They were running along the side of the observatory, hoping they would find an open door and be able to escape inside. Suddenly Luke saw his mother standing near the building.

"Get down!" Sarah Jane ordered.

Penny raced forwards and tackled the two of them to the ground as Sarah Jane pointed her sonic lipstick at the drones. They both exploded into sparks. Penny got up off the two and helped Luke to his feet first. He raced past her and to Sarah Jane. She pulled him into a strong hug and smiled. Penny then helped Maria to her feet.

"When we get out of this, I have something I need to tell you." Maria whispered to Penny.

Penny gave her a silent nod and then looked expectantly at her mum, waiting for a plan.

"Maria, go with Clyde and disable the dish." Sarah Jane said. "Luke, Penny, come back with me. We have to try everything we can."

.

Clyde and Maria had found a small building that they guessed must be the telescope control room. The door had been left unlocked and they had slipped into the building easily. The building was a mess of wires and machinery. The lights were mostly blocked out by everything that was crowded into the rooms.  
>"So we just need to take out the central control system transponder." Clyde said, looking around.<p>

"Sounds too easy." Maria pointed out, moving deeper into the room.

"The hard part is finding it." Clyde replied, searching through the wires and controls.

.

Sarah Jane walked back into the control room with her children. Seeing the controls, Luke rushed forwards. He put the knock out gas on the side and glanced over Lucy's shoulder at what she was working on.

"Made any progress?" Penny inquired, sitting on the side of the controls.

Lucy shook her head and said that it was useless. She didn't stop trying though. Luke suggested he should give it a go. Lucy looked at him in shock.

"What? I mean, no disrespect or anything, but you're just a kid and we're looking at the end of the world here." Lucy said, looking Luke up and down.

"He's done things like this before." Penny tried.

Luke was desperate to give it a go. He was clearly already thinking through his plan of action, going over each step mentally.

"No disrespect, Lucy, but you really aren't much more than a kid, either, and can you see the flaw in Einstein's Theory of Relativity? Luke can. And he can save the world. He's had practice." Sarah Jane informed her.

Lucy told Luke to give it a try and moved out of the chair to give Luke space to work. Penny turned to Sarah Jane and frowned.

"There's something not right here." Penny pointed out.

"Fifteen minutes to go. Why isn't Kaagh here to see his plan succeed?" Sarah Jane added, realising instantly what was wrong.

.

"It's got to be around here someone!" Clyde groaned as they found yet another set of controls that weren't what they were looking for.

Maria and him continued to work but they felt hopeless. They had no idea how much they had searched for the transponder and didn't now how much of the building they had left to cover.

"Fourteen minutes, Clyde." Maria urged as she checked another control box.

Suddenly a figure stepped out of the shadows. They grabbed Clyde and Maria gasped. It was Skinner.

"Let him go!" Maria demanded as Clyde struggled in Skinner's grip.

Clyde knew that it would only waste time. If the transponder wasn't found Kaagh would be able to kill lots of people. His own safety didn't matter over that.

"Go, Maria. Find the transponder. Run!" Clyde instructed.

Maria looked at him and realised that she didn't have a choice. She began to run through the building, hoping she would find something that was obviously the transponder.

Then she came across a red control box. She slowed down and moved towards it. She could hear Clyde struggling a little way in the distance so she knew Skinner was occupied.

She opened the box and gasped. The transponder was already missing.

"Is this what you are looking for, half-form?" a cruel voice asked.

Maria turned to see Kaagh was holding the transponder. He also had his gun pointed straight at her.

"Remember the first law of battle. Think like your enemy. The second law of battle. Anticipate them." Kaagh said, moving past Maria and putting the transponder in place.

He gave her a triumphant smile and announced that the telescope was still working.

.

Alan was fighting the urge to shout. He was desperate to move quickly and search the forest the best he could but Chrissie kept slowing him down. She was struggling to walk through the fields in her high heels and kept almost tripping.

"Just leave them here!" Alan growled, looking back at Chrissie as she struggled to free a high heel from an exposed tree root.

Chrissie refused, reasoning that they were designer. However she did slip the high heels off and carry them as they walked through the forest.

.

"Bro, you've only got four minutes." Penny pointed out, ending up at her brother's side.

"The code is a bi-axial algorithm. It's not Earth mathematics. I'm having to try progressive cross-referencing number bases." Luke replied, not looking up from the controls.

Penny didn't understand most of what he said so urged him to hurry.

"Just think through everything we know about the Sontarans." Penny tried.

Luke did and then it hit him.

"Six!" he declared.

He sped up, enfused by this new discovery.

"Sontarans have six fingers. We have ten. We use the decimal system. That's it. I've cracked the code."

After a few seconds, Luke grinned and spun his chair to look at the others.  
>"I've disabled the program." he said, triumphantly.<p>

"Good work, Luke!" Sarah Jane cheered, extremely proud of her son.

"I knew you could do it." Penny added.

The happiness was shattered as Kaagh's voice snapped through the air.

"Step away from the controls." the Sontaran ordered.

Maria began to apologise for her and Clyde not managing to disable the dish but Sarah Jane told her that she didn't need to. Sarah Jane, Penny and Luke moved away from the controls with reluctance.

"It's not like you can do anything now." Penny pointed out.

"I disabled the program." Luke told them.

Kaagh barely reacted to the statement. He moved into the room, pulling Maria with him. Skinner followed, doing the same with Clyde.

"The third law of battle, always have a plan B." Kaagh announced.

He pressed a button on his armour and a gasp filled the room. Everyone turned to Lucy who reached for the back of her neck.

"A sleeper agent." Penny moaned.

"She was one of them all along?" Clyde gasped in disbelief.

Lucy moved towards the controls. She produced her phone and plugged it into the machine. She began to work on the controls. Luke watched her, wanting to know what was happening.

"She was unaware of my control. Another rule of battle. Infiltrate deep within your enemy, then infiltrate deeper still."

Sarah Jane produced her sonic. She could see the device on the back of Lucy's neck and could easily disable it. She was about to when Kaagh called out that he would kill Maria if she did it. Reluctantly, Sarah Jane threw her sonic onto the control desk. It landed next to Luke's canister of knock-out gas. Sarah Jane looked at Penny and Luke to see if they had any ideas.

Lucy's work was complete and a loading bar appeared on the screen. It showed that the program was being reloaded from her phone.

"When the program reloads, it will automatically transmit to the satellites and target your nuclear installations around the world." the Sontaran said.

"This is conquest. It's murder." Penny growled.

Kaagh replied that it would wipe the Sontaran defeat from history and that was all that mattered. Luke held onto Penny's arm to hold her back, suspecting that she was going to attack Kaagh.

"Stop the program. There are innocent people out there!" Maria tried.

"Your planet defied Sontar. That can never be. We will have victory over all. Nothing will stop us."

The gang were helpless, unable to do anything as they watched the percentage on the loading bar grow. They knew that if any of them did anything then Kaagh would kill Maria and he probably wouldn't stop there.

Then they all became aware of a woman rushing out of the shadows.

"Try my size fives, humpty!" Chrissie yelled, digging the heel of one of her designer high heels into the Sontaran's probic vent.

An energy release threw Chrissie backwards and Kaagh collapsed to the floor. Maria turned and ran to her mother's side just as Alan moved out of the shadows.

Sarah Jane snatched up her sonic and deactivated Skinner and Lucy. Penny rushed forwards and grabbed Kaagh's gun before turning to Clyde and checking he was alright.

"Mum?" Maria tried, trying to revive Chrissie.

Luke grabbed Lucy's phone and looked at the screen to see that the loading had stopped on 98%. He smiled down at the phone and handed it to a bewildered Lucy.

Alan was taking Chrissie's pulse when she stirred slightly. Alan smiled and told everyone that Chrissie was alright.

"What I would like to know is how did Chrissie know where to hit a Sontaran." Sarah Jane said, looking between Maria, Luke, Clyde and Alan.

"Mum, it can wait. She just saved the world!" Penny told her.

Sarah Jane slowly smiled and pulled Penny into a hug, checking her daughter was alright.

"Feels good to beat one of them after what they did." Penny said with a weak smile.

"She's coming round." Alan called, looking down at Chrissie.

Maria quickly requested the canister of knock-out gas. Luke hesistantly brought it to her.

"If we can get Mum home before she comes round, maybe we can convince her that none of this ever happened. She banged her head. Had a bad dream. Anything. We'd never hear the end of it if she knew she'd saved the world." Maria tried.

As Maria dealt with her mother, Penny was helping Clyde secure Kaagh with some wires they had found in one of the side rooms. Sarah Jane was looking at Skinner and Lucy and decided that the group had better go before too many questions were asked.

.

Alan had gone to drive Chrissie home. The others were leading Kaagh back to his ship. He was conscious but his hands were still tied and Penny was holding his gun. Her, Luke and Clyde was hanging back. Both Penny and Clyde could tell something was off with Luke but they couldn't tell what.

"Don't try anything." Sarah Jane warned as she untied Kaagh's hands.

Kaagh looked at the group and moved towards his ship.

"Defeated by a female and half-forms. I will go, Sarah Jane Smith, but I will not forget you. Sontarans will yet cry my name in battle." Kaagh warned.

He went into his ship and began to power it up. The group fled to the safety of the trees and watched as the ship took off.

"Do you think he'll be back?" Maria asked Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane shrugged.

"He might but I'm not sure. But, with some people, it really doesn't matter how far they travel. They never really go away." Sarah Jane said.

.

Penny was up in the attic, looking at the Sontaran gun. She sighed, shaking her head and then moved towards the safe K-9 was in. She opened the safe and fed the gun into the space.

"Hey, K-9." she said, looking out at her metal dog.

K-9 was too far away to hear her, still working on the black hole, but it was good to see him again.

"I travelled in time since the last time we talked. And I've fought a Dalek and a Sontaran." she continued.

Then there was a creak from the door. Penny didn't look away from the safe.

"If you want to be alone, I can..." Maria began.  
>"No, stay, you said you had something to tell me." Penny said.<p>

She said goodbye to K-9 and closed the safe, sliding the panels back in place.

"Mum thinks she tripped and hit her head. Thinks it was all a dream." Maria told her.

Penny shook her head and said Maria had wanted to tell her something before Chrissie had hit the Sontaran.

"I'm moving to America." Maria admitted.

Penny looked away and stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Have you told Luke?" Penny asked.

"Yes, I told him. And I told Sarah Jane."

There was a pause and Penny turned back to face her. Maria had expected to see Penny upset. Instead, Penny was smiling.

"There's a group there who are kind of a UNIT splinter group and they are like us. I keep trying to make contact but they stay under the radar. I could try and set you up with them."

"You're okay with this?" Maria managed.

Penny offered her an even bigger smile than before.

"No one ever truly leaves. The Doctor left my life when I was four and shows up years later as a teacher in a school I'm undercover in. My dad died before I was born and when I dream I get memories from a life with him that Clyde said was an alternate reality made by the Trickster. I very much doubt you going to America is going to be the one time that the universe doesn't let me keep up a friendship." Penny told her, sitting on the steps of the attic and staring at the closed up form of Mr Smith.

Maria joined her.

"We became friends because someone mentioned a free bus to me and you." Penny reminded her. "It's been good."

Maria nodded.

"When are you leaving?" Penny asked.

"In six weeks." Maria told her.

"You going to ask Luke out before you go?"

Maria laughed and shook her head.

"You'll keep them all safe, right? Sarah Jane, Luke and Clyde?" Maria made Penny promise.

Penny simply nodded and smiled.


	27. Alone

**Mystic Lover of the Fairytale gave me this idea over a year ago and I always intended to write it but skipped it by accident. Therefore, I dedicate this chapter to Mystic Lover of the Fairytale and have tried to make it as long and as action packed as possible to make up for the year long wait. **

**My apologies once again, Mystic Lover of the Fairytale.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any recognised characters.**

.

.

Sarah Jane was packing. She was going on a five day trip to Scotland to work on a story. She had been planning on taking Penny and Luke there but had decided that it would be best to leave her children at home so they could relax. Both of them had been very busy and she felt that they needed time to relax at home.

She looked up at her children who were standing in the doorway. Penny and Luke were both watching her pack.

"I'll call every day." Sarah Jane said. "And if anything happens, I expect you to call me as soon as anything happens."

Penny and Luke nodded.  
>"And try to go to bed on time. If you need anything, ask Mr Smith or Alan."<p>

Sarah Jane finished packing and zipped up her suitcase. She picked it up and moved towards her children.

"Keep safe, okay?" she told them both, putting down her suitcase so she could give them warm hugs.

"Yes, mum." Luke said.

Penny smiled and told Sarah Jane that they would try.

"And if there is an alien, what do we do?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane told them to call her and they would decide depending on which alien they were dealing with. Penny then picked up her mother's case and carried it down the stairs. Sarah Jane smiled, putting her arm around Luke as they walked down the stairs.

.

"So what are we going to do?" Luke asked as the Smith children moved into the lounge.

"We have five days without mum, we could do whatever we want." Penny answered.

She turned to Luke and suggested a few sports. Luke shook his head and suggested a few indoors games.

"No, we are not playing Scrabble." Penny protested. "We could watch films, you've hardly ever watched any films."

"What sort of film do you think I would like?" Luke asked.

"Action, sci-fi, the sort of films that mum doesn't like keeping in the house where we can find them." Penny answered.

Luke frowned and looked at Penny.

"Well clearly we can't do that then." Luke replied.

"I said mum doesn't like keeping them in the house. I never said that I didn't keep them in the house. Jack buys me loads of them." Penny said.

She rushed upstairs to go and get them from where they were hidden. Luke watched her go. He got up and went to the window. It was getting dark outside. Penny ran downstairs holding a pile of films.

"Okay, which one first?" Penny asked.

.

They were in the middle of a film when Clyde came around. Penny smiled and went to open the door.

"Hey." she said, giving him a small peck on the cheek as he entered.

Clyde grinned at her and moved in so he could see Luke.

"How are you two holding up, being home alone and all?" Clyde asked.

Penny and Luke smiled at each other and nodded towards the film. Clyde smirked at how mischevious they both were being.

"So, who's going to cook?"

Clyde sat down on the sofa next to Penny, slipping his arm over her shoulders. For a few moments, Penny and Luke looked between each other with shock. Neither of them were very good at cooking and they didn't want to chance burning the house down.

"We'll order take out." Penny suggested.

Luke nodded and agreed. It seemed the only logical suggestion.

"And when you get bored of take out?" Clyde asked, prompting for something.

There was a pause between the group.

"Oh yeah, the fabled Clyde Langer cooking." Penny said as it dawned on her. "Maybe you'll have to cook some time."

"I have an idea, we could get both you and Maria to cook and then me and Penny can judge who is better at it." Luke joked, turning down the volume of the film so they could talk.

Penny rolled her eyes but began to encourage Luke, saying how, if they did host a competition, they wouldn't have to cook ever because the loser would declare so many rematches.

"By the time we're fifty, we won't have even worked out how to turn on the oven!" Penny cheered, childishly.

Clyde laughed and then looked at the clock.

"And now I'd better go. I just popped in to make sure you two were okay. Not that I was worried or anything. Your mum phoned, worried you had murdered each other or something. Anyway, I promised my mum that I would pick up some stuff from the shops before tea." Clyde informed them.

He got up and Penny said she would show him out. Luke watched the two of them go.

"By the way, we agreed to help Maria pack tomorrow so, if you are going to come round, be prepared to work." Penny smirked at Clyde as she lead him from the room. "And Maria said she wanted to make a start at nine tomorrow so we can get everything in their attic sorted out."

.

Luke had ordered the pizza. They had got two large ones, both being the favourite flavours of the teenagers. Luke had pepperoni, Penny had meat feast (both had specifically ordered no mushrooms) and were tucking into it as the detective in the thriller they were watching was walking through the scene of a crime, searching for clues.

"So, Luke, we never talked about this. Do you want to do anything for your birthday?"

"Like what?" Luke asked.

"Presents and a party and stuff. Because you turn a year old in about a month and that's a very important birthday." Penny pointed out.

"I haven't really thought about it." Luke said. "But it's not really a birthday, is it? It's an activiation day."

"It's the same thing." Penny said.

"Can we just skip it? I don't want a birthday."

Penny sighed and told Luke that it didn't matter where he came from, he was still her brother.

"And as you are my brother, I'm at least getting you a present." Penny told him, firmly. "Even if you let everyone else forget."

There was a silence between them and then Luke gave Penny a small nod. She offered him a smile and then they both shifted around to watch the film.

"Do you do that a lot?" Penny asked.

"What?"

"Not remind people of things when you remember?"

Luke offered Penny a smirk and a small nod.

"Why do you think mum is yet to take us on that family bonding hike she keeps talking about?"

.

"Luke, pause the film! Pause the film!" Penny told Luke when she noticed her phone was buzzing.

She waited until Luke had scrambled for the remote before answering the call.

"Hey, mum." she said. "Give me a minute. I'll just put the phone on speaker."

"Hello, you two. Just wanted to call and make sure everything is alright." Sarah Jane said over the phone.

Luke and Penny smiled.

"We're fine, mum." Luke said. "Did you get there safely?"

Sarah Jane told them about the journey up to Scotland and then asked why they were up so late. Both teenagers looked towards the clock and winced. They had not paid attention to the time and it had gotten way past their bedtimes.

"We're just about to go to bed." Penny lied.

There was a sigh from the other end of the phone and Sarah Jane told her children not to stay up too late.

"Thanks mum." Luke said, smiling.

"Love you." Sarah Jane said and both children replied.

As soon as Penny had hung up, Luke had the film going again.

.

They were on their latest film of that night and the scene was extremely tense. It was sci-fi thriller that both Smith children knew they probably shouldn't be watching. Although Penny had said that their biological ages added up higher than the age on the film, Luke was sure it didn't work that way. On the screen a group of teenagers were walking through an abandoned warehouse at night, knowing that one of their group had been dragged inside by the creature. In the corner of the screen something was moving towards the teenagers, its fangs dripping as it hunted the group.

Of course the two Smith children kept telling each other they weren't scared. They weren't going to let the others know that they were getting nervous.

"This film is rubbish." Penny said, forcing confidence into her voice.

"Yeah." Luke said, smiling slightly.

They watched as the alien moved closer to the teenagers on the screen and both reached forwards for the snacks they had over the table in front of them. One of the teenagers on the screen turned and let out a long and loud scream.

"What are we meant to do if Maria heard that?" Penny asked, smirking at her brother. "She'd kill us for getting her so worried."

Luke shifted. He still was upset about the idea of Maria leaving and every time he thought about her it brought up the feelings once more.

Then there was a knock on the door. It was three loud thuds and the teenagers shot each other questioning looks.

"Perhaps Maria did hear the scream." Penny joked.

She went up to get the door.

"It's a bit late for visitors." Luke pointed out. "Maybe mum sent someone round to check on us."

"Better pause the film and turn the telly off, just until our visitors go." Penny advised.

Luke did as she said, just as another set of three thuds echoed down the corridor.

"I'm coming." Penny moaned, going to get the door.

She reached out for the door handle and then her watched bleeped. She frowned.

"It's detecting something." she mused. "Something alien."

"Perhaps we should call mum to check with her or go and see Mr Smith." Luke suggested.

Another three thuds sounded against the door.

"Up the stairs." Penny whispered, pointing up the stairs.

She kept her eyes on the door, watching as the alien on the other side tried the handle. Luke began to move up the stairs. Everything was silent apart from the squeaking of the door handle as it was turned. There was a small thud as the alien attempted to open the door to find it locked.

"Go and get Mr Smith." Penny instructed, still whispering.

Luke began to creep up the stairs. The handle was tried a final time. Penny was standing at the bottom of the stairs, offering protection to her brother in case he needed to run. She knew she was the better fighter out of the two of them and would certainly buy Luke some time.

Then there was a creak from a misjudged footstep. Luke glanced down the stairs at Penny and then both turned to look at the door.

They expected something to hammer against it.

Instead it was blown off its hinges.

"Run!" Penny ordered.

Both teenagers thundered up the stairs, not even stopping to look at what was attacking. They had barely reached the first landing before an extremely strong hand grabbed Penny and threw her against the wall. Luke turned.

Standing on the landing were a trio of men in dark suits. They each looked very ordinary but Luke knew that at least one of them was an alien. One had neatly combed back black hair and a pale blue tie that matched his emotionless eyes. The second man had blonde hair that curled predictably. He had a black tie and was standing closest to Luke, prompting Luke to believe that he was the leader. The third was the one who had Penny pinned against the wall. He had hair that greyed at the temples and ice-like blue eyes. Despite the marks of age that covered the man's face, he seemed to have Penny pinned with ease. She was struggling, breaking out moves that Luke had watched her practise in the garden, but not getting free.

"Luke Smith." the lead man said. "I am here to forefill a contract. Your sister need not be hurt if you are willing to comply."

"What contract?" Luke asked, keeping his voice calm.

"Luke, get to Mr Smith." Penny urged.

There was pain in her voice and Luke could see how much pain the man was causing his sister. It looked as if the man was in danger of breaking Penny's arm and he didn't even care.

"If I agree to the contract, you'll leave Penny alone?" Luke inquired.

The lead man nodded. He didn't smile. His face didn't even twitch. It stayed emotionless. Luke gave him a small nod and Penny was released. However, she was not allowed near Luke. That worried her.  
>"So what is this contract?" Luke asked.<p>

The lead man reached into his pocket and produced a slim device that could have been easily mistaken for a mobile phone. He pressed a button and all three of the men flickered from their human disguises into those of red skinned aliens. Their features were all pinched into points and they had four eyes, set out in a square shape on their foreheads. They were dressed in grey clothes which reminded Luke of the suits that they had been wearing only seconds before. They looked like outer space business men. However none of the trio were making any effort to hide the sleek alien guns fastened to their belts. The men left a gap for Luke to move down the stairs and Luke did as they wanted. He moved in front of them and felt one place their hand on his shoulder. The alien's grip did not even need to tighten before Luke knew that the aliens were incredibly strong and understood why Penny had been in such pain when one had forced her into a hold.

"It's an assassination contract." the lead alien said with a cruel glee dripping from his voice.

Luke felt one of the aliens push against his back and he was sent flying down the stairs. He tumbled, hitting each step and yelping in pain. He was briefly aware of Penny calling out for him and the order that she be restrained.

"We do not wish to kill you. Just your brother." the lead alien announced as he moved down the stairs.

Luke opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he couldn't make complete sense of the alien in front of him. He wanted to move but ever part of him stung. He settled for letting out a small and pitiful moan.

The lead alien didn't react to this. He didn't see the boy in front of him as a victim or even as someone's son. He was a business deal that would ultimately lead to a big payment. Luke could hear Penny shouting but he couldn't make out the words. He winced and his arms flailed as if Luke couldn't control them. He whimpered as he felt a liquid coming from his forehead and guessed that it was blood. He was bleeding. He had a least a small head wound.

That was when the leader kicked him. It slammed into his leg and Luke felt a pop from his knee. He didn't feel pain for the first few seconds. He couldn't look at the damage done by the violent kick but he knew it was bad. His body was shaking as it tried to correct itself.

"Leave him alone!" Penny shouted.

The aliens didn't listen to her. The lead knelt down beside Luke. He pointed his gun at Luke. That was when Penny leapt out at the lead alien. She delivered a kick to his face and he released his hold on his gun. Penny snatched up his gun and pointed it at the alien.

"Get out." the teenaged girl instructed.

The aliens frowned and she ordered the others down the stairs. She didn't dare glance down at Luke because she knew it could make her weaken her hold on the gun and the attempt to drive the aliens away could be stopped.

"You know its logical and that's what you are all about. If I kill you then you can't complete your contract. It's better to admit defeat and then return to attack again." Penny said.

The aliens considered what was she saying and then nodded.

"We will return." the lead alien announced.

Penny watched as they went and threw the gun away. She moved towards Luke, letting out a small gasp. She took stock of Luke's injuries and felt sick.

"Okay..." she managed. "Lets see what I can do to help."

Penny looked into Luke's eyes and frowned. She saw that his eyes were out of focus and asked him to tap his nose. Luke missed.

"I think you have a concussion." Penny managed. "And your knee has got lost."

"Got lost?" Luke managed.  
>"Dislocated." Penny told him.<p>

She turned around so Luke couldn't see her and told him that she was going to put it back in place in three seconds. She began to count down and straightened Luke's leg on two. Luke gasped in pain but his knee went back into place.

"Now, Luke," Penny said, forcing Luke to look her in the eyes.

He struggled to do it but Penny made him match her gaze.

"You have a concussion and that means that you might struggle to use that big brain of yours. Now we can't call mum or the others because that'll put them in danger and those aliens will be expecting it. We need to go on the run as I told them to come back here."

Luke found his attention drifting and Penny got him to look back at her. She began to check over the cut on Luke's forehead.

"You're going to be fine." Penny told him. "Just keep lying there while I'll pack us some supplies."  
>"I could help." Luke informed her, going to sit up.<p>

Penny didn't go to stop him. She couldn't waste time on that. She helped him up to his feet and helped him limp into the lounge. She sat him in the chair and smiled. Then she rushed off to grab rucksacks. She brought two down and went to throw them at Luke. Then she stopped herself and rushed out.

"Luke, you need to pack whatever I give you." Penny said.

.

Penny scribbled down a note and then pinned it to the fridge. Luke had attempted to swing on a backpack but after his third try, he had given up.

"We don't have any crutches. So I will have to help you. I've got a medical kit and I'll patch you up. There's a UNIT safehouse that only me and mum know about in the area so we can stay there for a few nights."

They had enough clothes for a few days and Penny had packed for all weathers. The clothes didn't make them stand out from the crowd. They were simple and didn't have any logos, generally single colours.

"Shouldn't we tell Mr Smith about where we are going?" Luke asked.

Penny shook her head and explained to Luke that he would only tell Clyde and Maria. They couldn't risk Maria and Clyde being put in danger.

"If there is a bounty on your head, I can only definitely look after you." Penny told him. "I've left them a clue to where we are going so they know we are safe but the most important thing is making sure you are safe."

Slapping their mobile phones down on the table, Penny swung on the two backpacks so she had one hanging from each arm and then helped Luke to his feet. She lead him out of the room, supporting him. Luke tried to put weight on his leg but he kept getting the horrible feeling it would give out underneath him.

.

"You know it is the middle of the night, in London." Luke mused as Penny helped him along.

"Hey, if the police pick us up, I'll say I was taking you to hospital." Penny assured him. "Maybe they'll give us a lift."

Luke told Penny that it was not the police he was worried about.

"Luke, we've both been fighting aliens our entire lives and you're worried about being out at night."

There was a pause as Luke took in a sharp breath. Penny stopped, looking at her brother.

"Was it your knee or your head?" Penny asked.

Luke didn't speak but reached out and held his head. His eyes were still unfocused. Penny took more of his weight and offered him a weak smile.

"We're almost there, Luke." Penny encouraged. "It should be fine."

Then Penny's watch bleeped. She looked around and then saw an alleyway nearby. She helped Luke limped into hiding and then pulled off her watch. She dragged her jacket off her shoulders and wrapped it around the watch, muffling the persistant bleeping.

"I saw the children over here." a voice said.

Penny and Luke ducked further back into the shadows as they watched three suited men walked past. They recognised them as the men from before. Luke's heart was thundering and he wanted to stumble forwards. Suddenly Luke felt one leg give away. He managed to bite back the yelp that was coming but knew that if he hit the floor, then the aliens would know where they were. Penny managed to catch him and support him but let out a small grunt as she did so. Her eyes widened and she practically dragged Luke deeper into the alley. The aliens glanced into the alley and the lead man moved down it.

"I heard a noise." he said.

Penny and Luke didn't breathe. They just hoped they were far enough back. The aliens scanned the area. Then they turned and left.

The two Smith children hung back, not even breathing as they pressed themselves against the wall. They waited until three steps of footsteps echoed away before they relaxed.

"They almost found us." Luke whispered, not ready to speak loudly.

"Lets just get going."

Penny forced Luke's arm over her shoulders, took as much of his weight as she could and helped him to the safe house.

.

The safe house was not a house. It was meant to look like a closed up shop and Penny lead Luke through the shop. She took him into the upstairs store room and there were two camp beds and a table. It was a bare room and it didn't look very comfortable. There was one window that overlooked the street but the curtains were pulled across.

"Home, sweet home." Penny said dryly, dropping the bags onto the floor and focusing on just moving Luke to one of the beds.

When Luke was lowered onto the bed, Penny moved away from Luke and sat down on her own. Luke slowly checked her over, trying to work through his blurred vision. That was when he noticed that there was blood soaking into her trousers.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked.

Penny looked down. She looked down at her leg and frowned.

"I cut it some time." Penny said with a shrug. "I think it was when I was fighting the aliens while you were being attacked by their leader."

"You should get it bandaged." Luke told her.

The teenaged girl shook her head and Luke frowned. He got to his feet and struggled to limp to Penny.

"Now that I am over here, I might as well help you." Luke said.

He instructed Penny to put her leg up on the side and he began to bandage it. Penny looked at the bandage and knew that it was rough. However she didn't want to stop Luke. She let him continue with the bad bandaging of her leg.

"When you're done, you'd better get some sleep. I'll set up some alarms so we'll both get some sleep."

Luke finished up the bandaging and then Penny helped him back to his bed. She checked on his knee once more and then told him everything was going to be alright.

"I wish mum was here." Luke told Penny.

Penny moved back and then laid back in bed, looking up at the ceiling of the safe house.

"Yeah. When she comes back, we'll meet up with her. But it's not safe right now." Penny said.

.

Penny couldn't sleep. She was still lying in bed and she stared at her watch. Then she flipped open the scanner. It still had the readings she had taken from the aliens hunting Luke.

"Species indentified: Walapian." Penny reported to herself.

She tried to keep the same beat and pace as her mother did when she was telling them about the aliens. It was slightly reassuring.

"Planet of Origin: Walapi."

It had given her no help. There were no weaknesses and no way to make contact with Mr Smith unless she went back to the house.

She had a plan, she knew where she was going to go and she could find out what to do when she got there.

"This is hopeless." Penny said, snapping her watch shut.

.

Clyde frowned as he woke up. It was the school holidays and he wasn't happy about being woken up at nine in the morning. He realised that he had been woken up by a phone call and groaned as he rolled over to answer it.

"Maria, it's too early." he groaned.

"Get over to Sarah Jane's now. Something terrible has happened." Maria rushed.

Clyde snapped into a sitting position, his eyes wide.

"WHAT?" he gasped.

He could hear Maria was terrified.

"Penny and Luke aren't here. The front door has been smashed open and there's some blood on the hallway floor!" Maria told him.

Clyde was out of bed like a shot, saying he would be right over.

.

"Luke?" Penny tried, nudging her brother.

She had barely slept all night, feeling that someone needed to keep watch. She had wanted Luke to sleep in, hoping he would sleep off the concussion.

"I'm awake." Luke told her, not opening his eyes. "I haven't slept all night. I couldn't sleep."

"It's understandable. After what you've been through, I don't think anyone would be able to sleep."

"But I'm so tired." Luke moaned as he sat up.

Penny moved over and checked his over. His eyes were still slightly unfocused and he looked a bit distracted. His knee seemed to have stayed in the right place but she had no idea if she had done any damage putting it back in. She knew Luke wouldn't tell her if she had.

"Can you go through everything that happened last night?" she asked as she unwound the banages around Luke's hands to see the cuts underneath.

"We were watching films when we were attacked. We ran up the stairs but they grabbed you and threw me down them and I hit my head. At some point I dislocated my knee and..."

"Okay, that's enough." Penny said. "Your superbrain seems to not have been scrambled on the memory front."

She cleaned Luke's cuts on his hands and then put the bandages back on.

"How is your leg?" Luke asked.

"Fine. It's fine." Penny said, lifting up her trouser leg.

Luke shook his head at the sight of the bandage and told Penny he would redo it.

"You don't have to. I can do it myself." Penny said. "I just don't see the point of wasting bandages when we might need them soon."

She began to upwrap the bandage and work it around her leg once more. Luke looked towards her and then settled on her bed.

"What are we going to do?" Luke asked.

Penny began to tell him what she was planning to do. Luke listened intently and then Penny found herself repeating it so she knew Luke completely understood.

.

Clyde had run to the house. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the house. He could see the front door had been smashed off its hinges. He gasped and rushed in.

Maria was standing in the hallway and looking around in horror. She was staring down the blood on the hallway floor and then looked up towards Clyde.

"What happened?" Clyde managed.

Maria shook her head and told Clyde she had no idea. She guessed that someone really bad was going on.

"Do you think that an alien came and took them?" Clyde said, kneeling down beside Maria.

Maria looked at him.

"What else would have taken them?"

Clyde frowned and thought for a few seconds. He then came up with a small idea.

"You know, like in action stories, the kids of journalists getting kidnapped to stop their parents from publishing a story." Clyde said.

Maria reminded Clyde that the last story Sarah Jane had been working on was the story of Goblin's Copse.

"Even if someone has taken them for one of Sarah Jane's stories, it would be Kaagh."

.

Clyde and Maria moved into the lounge and looked around. It looked normal. Clyde moved forwards and turned the telly on. He frowned at the paused movie.

"They weren't expecting to have to leave. Something must have attacked them." Clyde said.

Maria looked around the room. She noticed the teenager's phones on the table nearby and winced.

"They left their phones. If they were taken then their kidnappers didn't want us to make contact." Maria told him.

Clyde said that they should search the rest of the house.

"Maybe one of them is injured and the other is just making sure they're alright."  
>"No. I've shouted. One of them would have replied." Maria said. "But maybe they've left a clue to where they've went or..."<p>

Nodding to each other, Maria and Clyde began to search the house.

.

Maria moved into the kitchen. She saw supplies littering the table and winced. Clyde moved level with her.

"It looks like they escaped." Clyde said. "Or the aliens decided to make a picnic for the road."

Maria glared at him. She wasn't in the mood for his jokes. Someone had invaded the house of their friends, injured at least one of them and they had no idea if their friends were on the run, captured or dead.

Clyde fell silent as he looked around the kitchen. Some of the cupboards were open and had clearly been sorted through while others were shut and untouched. Maria reached under the sink and searched.

"It's not here." she murmured.

"What's not here?" Clyde asked, joining her.

Maria explained that the Smiths kept the medical kit under the sink. The bottles of cleaning liquid had been untouched but the medical kit was missing.

"Whoever has it knew what they were looking for." Maria concluded. "And that means it had to be either Penny or Luke."

"We need to know which one of them is injured." Clyde mused. "Because if it's Penny then they might try and stop at A and E but if it's Luke then they wouldn't risk it. Maybe Mr Smith can run a test on the blood or..."

Maria didn't like the idea but they didn't have another option. It was the only way they knew of getting some sort of lead.

"Maybe one of them left a clue to where they would go." Clyde said. "If you search for a note or clue or something, I'll take a sample of the blood up to Mr Smith."

Clyde didn't like the idea of having to collect the blood of one of his friends but he knew that Maria would find it too painful. Maria gave him a weak nod and began to search around the kitchen. Clyde fished a clean bowl from the side and some kitchen roll and went to collect the blood.

Maria took a deep breath as she scanned the room. Then she realised that she had something she needed to do. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.

"Sarah Jane, it's Penny and Luke." Maria began.

Suddenly her words became a jumbled mess and she couldn't hold them all back.

"Penny and Luke are missing and there looks like there was a fight and there's blood and we can't tell if something has happened to them and I don't want to panic but I can't help thinking they're dead and..."

"Maria, calm down." Sarah Jane instructed. "Penny and Luke are missing?"

Maria told Sarah Jane everything they knew. Sarah Jane told her that she would come down as soon as she could.

"Call me as soon as something happens." Sarah Jane said.

.

Up in Scotland, a man in a sharp black suit frowned. His collegues had not managed to kill the boy and they couldn't allow Sarah Jane to make contact and help the children. He had heard the phone call and watched as Sarah Jane hurried off to go and collect her things. Slowly he moved outside and located her car. He wrenched the bonnet open and began to rip out wires and connections.

.

Luke watched as Penny began to collect up the cash they had.

"So, I'm going to buy us two train tickets, okay? I won't be too long and everything should be fine while I'm gone. Hide whenever someone comes, even if you think it could be me."  
>Penny stopped and saw Luke was looking down at the ground, seemingly slightly distracted.<p>

"How's your head?" she asked.

"It hurts." Luke murmured.

"And your leg?"

"Stiff and painful."

Penny winced for her brother and moved towards him. She got him to look her in the eyes.

"Luke, I will be gone two hours at the most. If I am not back by then, go outside, ask someone if you can use their phone and call Clyde. You remember the number, right? Tell him what's going on and that you have a serious concussion."

Penny offered Luke a confident smile and reassured him that she would probably come back and that it was just a precaution. She pulled on a hooded jacket and pulled the hood up so she had some level of protection.

"I don't think mum is going to let us stay home alone ever again." Luke remarked as Penny swung on her backpack.

Penny smirked back at him and nodded.

"See you later." she said and then left the safe house.

.

Clyde had walked into the attic. His hands were shaking from his horrible task but he knew it needed to be done.

"Mr Smith," he called. "I need you."

Mr Smith opened up quickly and Clyde frowned.

"Do you know what happened last night?" Clyde asked.

"I know what the house was invaded by non-human life forms and that a violent altercation took place resulting in the aliens and Penny and Luke running off into the night."

"So they ran. Penny and Luke escaped, right? They haven't been captured?"

Clyde tried not to get hopeful but it was too hard. He now could forget the horrible images of Penny and Luke being dragged from their home that had been haunting him ever since they had got there that morning.  
>"I only know that they left the house on their own accord. Whether they have been captured after that point, I do not know." Mr Smith said.<p>

Clyde bit his lip but tried to tell himself that it was Penny and Luke – they had fought aliens their entire lives, they would be fine.

Then his eyes dropped to the blood sample he had taken and he felt his heart sink.

"Can you run a DNA test on this blood? We need to know who it belongs to." Clyde pressed.

Mr Smith let a little draw open out and Clyde moved forwards. He put as much as the blood soaked kitchen roll on it as he could and looked at Mr Smith, waiting for the results.

.

Maria was almost pacing the kitchen. She had searched nearly every room in the house and, given that it was clear the teenagers had left through the back door, she was sure that if they had left a message it would have been put in the kitchen. However she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. There was no sign to where they were going. She had checked in all of the cupboards and found no hidden messages. She had checked in all the places she knew Penny and Luke would hide things but found nothing. She stopped beside the fridge and began to read the notes on it, hoping that the clue would be hidden in plain sight.

The fridge was covered in notes about appointments, training from UNIT, a newspaper clipping, a photo of the family and a handful of scraps of paper telling Sarah Jane to buy milk, Penny to stop leaving food wrappers lying around or Luke to stop leaving notes on the fridge. None of the notes really stood out until she noticed one that had been scribbled out in a scruffier version of Penny's handwriting. It looked like it had been written in a hurry and that made Maria wonder if the note had been written recently. She had no way of telling however until she read the note and realised that it meantioned what had happened the night before – the mess and blood in the hallway. It filled her with hope because it meant that Penny and Luke had been in the house after the attack and clearly hadn't been taken. Smiling, Maria took it from the fridge.

The note read:

' Hey mum, wanted to let you know I've gone round

Clyde's. I might stay for tea round there and go to Maria's

afterwards. I won't stay too long and hopefully I will be back

right before tea.

Don't worry too much about the big mess and drips of blood

in the hallway. Luke was upstairs when he tripped and

fell. I've got him mostly patched up but the blood is from him

face-planting the floor and splitting his lip.'

Although Maria was unsure what the note meant she was sure that it had to be something important. Penny wouldn't just write a note for the fun of it. She knew that they didn't have time to waste so rushed up the stairs to ask Mr Smith what had made of the note.

.

"The blood matches the DNA of Luke Smith." Mr Smith announced.

Clyde's stomach dropped and he winced. He looked towards Mr Smith and asked if there could have been a mistake. Mr Smith told Clyde that there was a very small chance of it.

"Do you have any idea of the injuries that either of them had?" Clyde asked.

"No. I have audio from the fight if you want to listen to it." Mr Smith said.

Clyde's eyes widened and he told Mr Smith not to. He didn't want to listen to the sounds of the sight. Then Maria came in. She looked at the screen and then at Clyde.

"What's wrong?"

"The blood is Luke's." Clyde answered.

Maria gasped and looked down. She wasn't sure what she was meant to say to that. It wasn't enough blood that Luke was in serious trouble but it was still upsetting.

"Mr Smith has no idea what happened to them." Clyde said. "Or where they have gone."

"Penny left a note."

Maria walked forwards, holding the note out for Mr Smith. He copied the note onto his screen.

"The note says where Penny intends to go." Mr Smith said. "The first letter of each line reveals a logical place for Penny to go. She has contacts down there as well as a medical group she can trust to treat Luke.

"Cardiff." Mr Smith revealed.

.

"Two one way tickets for Cardiff, please." Penny said.

She had her hood down and looked at the young man behind the desk. The young man frowned.

"A bit too young to go to Cardiff by yourself." the man remarked, handing Penny the tickets.

Penny smiled at him. She didn't want to hang around too long and she certainly wasn't going to tell him why she was going there.

"I'm not going down alone. I'm going with my brother." Penny told him, keeping her answers short.

The man seemed slightly reassured and Penny began to get lost in the crowd. The tickets were for that afternoon, giving her plenty of time to get Luke to the station. She would have to time it perfectly though. She didn't want Luke out in the open for any longer than she had to.

Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder. Penny gasped and turned.

The three suited men stood there.

"Perhaps we should go somewhere more private." the lead alien said.

.

"How on Earth are they going to get to Cardiff if there are aliens after them?" Clyde asked.

Maria frowned and then looked at Mr Smith. She asked him how Penny got down to Cardiff to visit Jack.

"Penny's trips to visit her god-father involve Sarah Jane driving them down to meet up and then staying in a hotel in the city centre." Mr Smith informed them.

"Okay then, anything that seems irregular. Any children buying tickets to Cardiff by themselves?" Clyde tried.

Mr Smith began to start his scan. Clyde turned to Maria. Maria had slumped down onto the steps.

"This is the stuff that I won't miss." Maria told him. "The waiting around when you know that someone you care about is in danger. It hurts."

Clyde joined her on the steps.

"Yeah." he admitted.

Maria looked at him and offered him a weak smile. She reminded him that he didn't like showing his emotions.

"Just this once." Clyde told her. "But you're right. It hurts. My best mate and my girlfriend are missing and all we know is that they will be heading to Cardiff."

"You'll be okay though." Maria said. "Sarah Jane, Penny, Luke... They've got your back."

"And we will always have yours. Like Luke would let us do anything else."

Maria then suggested they should call the Torchwood team. It felt good to be doing something usual and they alerted the team to Penny and Luke being in danger and asked for them to contact them if they heard anything.

Then Mr Smith bleeped. He said he had a match.

He brought up a CCTV video.

"This is footage from the nearest train station." Mr Smith said.

He brought up the footage and Clyde and Maria gasped. They watched as Penny walked in and brought two train tickets, paying for them with a mixture of loose change and notes.

"How long ago was this?" Clyde asked, getting to his feet.

"Five minutes ago." Mr Smith answered.

"It takes twenty minutes to get to the station." Maria said, trying not to get helpful.

However she got to her feet.

"We might catch her in the streets nearby. It's a place to start." Clyde said, rushing from the room.

Maria rushed after him. Mr Smith called after them but they didn't listen. On Mr Smith's screen, Penny was cornered by the three men and led down a corridor.

.

Penny had been lead down a corridor by the men. The corridor was off to the side and was empty. It was just the four of them and Penny knew she would feel a lot safer if she was in a crowd.

"You're Walapians." Penny told them.

She wanted them to know that she was on level pegging with them.

"Yes, I am Teta. These are my men, Ger and Hil." the lead man said.

Ger was the older looking man. Hil was the blonde man.

"I'm Penny." Penny said, holding out her hand. "In case you only know my brother's name.

She offered the aliens a smirk.

"Two tickets to Cardiff." Teta mused, looking at the tickets still in her hand.

"Yeah."

She looked down at the tickets and frowned. They were useless. She wasn't going to let Teta or his goons know about it though. She hoped they would assume she was still going to take Luke to Cardiff.

"You could go. We have no interest in you. You could leave for Cardiff and pretend we overpowered you and took your brother." Teta said, noticing the disappointed look she was giving the tickets.

"You see there's the reason why I'm not going to do that. Luke's my brother and there is no way I am going to abandon him. Now I don't care what your contract is about but..." Penny snapped.

"The Bane governments wish for the loose ends on Earth to be tied up." Teta said.

Penny growled. She had believed the Bane would leave them alone. Nearly all the original invasion force were dead and the one that had survived had been arrested.

"I can protect him. I've fought aliens my entire life. I can handle you guys." Penny informed them.

She crossed her arms and tried to force a confident glare into her eyes. She didn't really trust herself.

"He is injured and you can not hold out much longer. Leave for Cardiff or else your mother will not just lose her son. We will give you twenty four hours to go and then we will hunt your brother down and anyone who gets in our way will share his fate."

Penny watched as the aliens walked away. She looked down at the tickets for Cardiff and let out a growl. She pulled her hood up as she turned and, walking away from the corridor, she threw the tickets down.

.

Penny wasn't taking the direct route back to the safe house. She couldn't risk being followed. However, she moved quickly. She felt that every second she was apart from Luke he could be dying. As she past a shop, she gasped. She stopped, looking at the shop window as if she was interested in something inside. She had seen something in the reflection.

The aliens were back in their human form and following her.

She couldn't lead them back to Luke. However she had no idea how to lose them. She doubted that she would be able to lose the aliens if she broke into a run but she had to try. She began to walk for a bit until she turned a corner. Seeing that the paths forked and there was a corner to hide her decision, Penny sprinted down the path, hoping the Walapians hadn't seen her.

However the aliens had and gave chase, not wishing to lose their lead.

.

Maria looked around the train station. There were people milling around everywhere and she knew that, even if Penny was still there, they would never find her in the crowds. The two had split up and Maria hurried over to the ticket desk to see if anyone had seen her. She came across the ticket clerk who had sold Penny her tickets and he asked why Maria needed to know, getting defensive.

"It seems like she was running from something." the man said. "You ain't going to hurt her, are you?"

"She's our friend. We're worried her and her brother are in trouble." Maria answered.

The man told her that he hadn't really seen her leaving but he had seen a group of men corner her.

"Tell me everything you saw." Maria demanded.

The young man couldn't give her much but he managed to give Maria lose descriptions of the men and said that Penny had gone with them willingly.

"And one final question: did you at any point see a boy with her? He would be the same age as her. Probably hung back, maybe injured." Maria asked.

The man shook his head. Maria thanked him and wandered off to go and find Clyde. She was horrified by the news. Penny would never leave Luke alone if they were in danger unless she really had to. That meant that Luke's injuries were too bad for him to come to train station with his sister.

Maria was thinking this over when Clyde came towards her.

"I found these tickets for Cardiff. One way." Clyde said. "They haven't been used. We can't be sure that they are Penny's but it seems like a good guess."

He handed them to Maria and she frowned.

"Clearly Penny was forced to abandon her plan to go to Cardiff." Maria muttered. "The aliens must have gone after them."

Clyde threw his hands into the air in exasperation and shook his head.

"Maybe Mr Smith will know where Penny would go if she stayed around here." Maria reasoned.

Clyde nodded and then the two of them left the train station.

.

Penny's eyes widened when she heard a voice she recognised. She stopped and looked around. The aliens were still following her and she frowned at that. Suddenly she noticed the owner of the voice. That only made her frown deepen.

Kelsey Hooper was standing a small distance away. She was dressed in a bright red hooded jacket and was talking over the phone. Penny had an idea as she watched her for a few seconds.

Slowly she walked up to Kelsey and tapped her on the shoulder. Kelsey hung up and turned to look at Penny.

"What do you want, weirdo?" she asked.

Penny shifted for a few moments and then saw the aliens had stopped to watch her. If they knew anything about Penny they would know that Kelsey was not someone that Penny got along with.

"I need to talk with you, somewhere private." Penny said, half dragging Kelsey into a small alleyway.

Kelsey began to protest but Penny was refusing to stop. She took Kelsey into the alleyway and asked a question.

"You still fancy Luke, right?" Penny asked.

Kelsey shifted and Penny took it as a yes.

"I will give you five pounds and put in a good word for you with Luke if you do something for me." Penny said.

Kelsey snorted.

"Ten pounds. I am desperate." Penny pleaded.

Kelsey nodded slowly.

"What do you want?"  
>Penny grinned and quickly outlined her plan.<p>

.

A few minutes past and the trio of Gerti were about to go into the alleyway and find out what Penny was doing. Then they saw Penny's blue hoodie emerging from the alleyway. The hood was pulled up like it had been before. The Getri smiled and began to follow the hoodie. They weren't even watching the alleyway when someone left the alleyway wearing Kelsey's bright red hoodie. The hood was pulled up and the aliens completely ignored the teenager who walked straight past them. Penny risked a glance over her shoulder and saw the creatures were following Kelsey.

"I owe you one, Kelsey." Penny said, feeling a bit uncomfortable in Kelsey's bright red hoodie.

.

Luke winced as he moved into hiding. He limped behind a wall and dropped down. No matter what Penny said, Luke knew he wouldn't get the chance to call Clyde if the aliens found him. He wouldn't be able to limp outside and find someone before he was found and killed. It annoyed him that he was suddenly so reliant on Penny who legally was younger than him. He felt that he was letting her down for being such a burden but he also knew that Penny would never abandon him.

"Luke, it's me." Penny called out.

Luke looked around the wall to see Penny standing there wearing a bright red jacket. He extended a hand to her and she moved towards him, helping him to his feet and supporting him as she moved him to his bed.

"You weren't wearing that jacket when you went out."

"We have Kelsey to thank for that." Penny said, smiling.

She sat down next to Luke on the bed and turned to him. She began to check his over once more as she told him what had happened.

"I didn't have a choice so I paid her to swap jackets with me and told her that when she was about ten minutes away to pull down her hood. Hopefully they will recognise her as someone I don't like and think they made a big mistake even following me to the alley we swapped in."

"And if not?" Luke asked.

"They'll see her as insignificant like they did with me." Penny said.

Luke reminded her that the aliens had hurt her but Penny shrugged, saying that it was better than the alternative of watching as Luke was killed.

Suddenly Penny got angry. She got to her feet and began to pace. Luke could only watch her walk up and down the small space, growling and muttering to herself.

"It was a stupid plan. Jack would be an obvious contact of mine." Penny told Luke as she paced. "It was stupid to think we could run away to Cardiff. Who else is there?"

She threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Uncle Brendan is in America. You would love him. Uncle Harry is in Africa. He would have been a great choice – a naval doctor who's dealt with aliens." Penny ranted, listing all her contacts. "And the Brig is in Peru! Again!"

"We only have three and a half days until mum is definitely back and the aliens will have to back off. We could call her down quicker and..."

"Luke, we don't have that as a choice. Those things will kill mum because you know that she'll stand in the way. She's probably got a bounty on her head as large as yours."

"So what now?" Luke asked.

Penny shook her head.

"I don't know." she told him "I just don't know any more."

.

Mr Smith was checking for any buildings that might have any links to Penny or Luke.

"They can't be expecting to hide for very long. They must have only had the cash left lying around and I doubt that it would have covered much more than the two train tickets. They will need some way of getting food." Maria reasoned.

"No, Penny will do the logical thing. If Luke is really in the state he is in, she would know to get medicine." Clyde reasoned.

Maria's phone began to ring and she answered it, feeling slightly sick.

"Have you found them yet?" Sarah Jane asked, forgetting about all pleasantries.

"We know Penny brought some tickets for Cardiff but we don't think she took the train." Maria told her. "I'm going to call Jack and check that she hasn't made contact with them. Do you know when you'll get down here?"

Sarah Jane then explained that something had happened with her car and they couldn't get it to work. She was struggling to get some form of transport down to London but everything she tried seemed to not work.

"You need to find them, Maria." Sarah Jane pleaded.

Then Mr Smith announced that he had found a possible building.

"I have to go. We might know where they had gone." Maria said.

She hung up and turned to Mr Smith.

He had brought up a map and had a red dot over one building.

"There is UNIT safehouse in this building." Mr Smith announced. "It has been used to hide agents if they are investigating nearby alien sites and Penny had visited it in the past."

Clyde looked at Maria and worked out the journey wasn't too long. If it meant they would be able to find their friends, they would be willing to go any distance.

"Maybe we should go and check it out." Clyde said with a smile.

.

Kelsey could tell she was being followed. She wasn't sure what was going on around the Smith children but she kept thinking back to the Bubble Shock incident. It seemed like something similar was going on that day and she was not sure what to make off it. Slowly she pulled down her hood and looked back behind her. There was a trio of men staring at her. They watched her for a few seconds and then turned to walk away.

Kelsey watched them go before turning back and continuing on her way. She didn't want to be part of the insane world of the Smiths.

That was when she saw Clyde and Maria coming her way.

"You're wearing Penny's jacket." Clyde said, stopping in front of her.

Kelsey nodded.

"She came up to me and asked to swap jackets, gave me a tenner for it as well." Kelsey said.

She looked at Clyde for a few moments and then realised who he was.

"You're Penny's boyfriend." she said. "I've seen you and her together."

"Yeah but where did Penny go after she gave you her jacket?" Maria pressed on. "Think Kelsey! Think. Penny and Luke are in danger."

"Is it those Bane things you believe were behind Bubble Shock?" Kelsey asked.

"No, we stopped them." Maria explained. "But it's aliens. Now, if you now where Penny could be..."

There was a pause and Kelsey said that she didn't know but said that there had been some guys following her. She pointed down the street to where the men had been.

"If we're quick, we might be able to catch them." Maria said.

Thanking Kelsey, Clyde and Maria began to sprint down the street.

.

Maria and Clyde managed to stop the men. They ran in front of them and blocked their path.

"Hello, we're looking for our friends. We heard that you might have an idea where they were." Maria said.

"And who are your friends?" the lead man, Teta, said.

"Luke and Penny Smith." Clyde answered.

The two teenagers noticed as the aliens tensed. They shot each other nervous looks and then Teta spoke again.

"We are agents of UNIT." Teta stated. "Agent Smith called us, saying she needed immediate assistance. We went to the house last night and found it empty. We also caught up with Private Smith at the train station but she ran before we could explain. Clearly she swapped hoodies with that girl over there believing we were going to cause her harm. Do you have any idea where she might have gone."

"Did you at any point see Luke?" Maria asked.

She was getting worried. If Penny had felt the need to call in UNIT then... She stopped. Something didn't sit right. Penny would never call in UNIT if Luke had been injured in case they tried to treat him. If the men in front of her weren't UNIT and it wasn't a misunderstanding then Penny had ran for a reason.

They were the men who attacked them.

Maria's heart stopped. She had to make Clyde aware of what was happening.

"We know about a UNIT safe house nearby that..." Clyde began.

Maria silenced him by elbowing him in the stomach. The gesture was simple: 'STOP'. It was too late. Teta pressed on. He glared at the two of them, asking for where it was. The two teenagers stopped. If they didn't tell the men then they would be in danger.

"We'll show you." Maria said.

She looked at Clyde who seemed horrified by the idea. It was the only thing that made sense. If they took the men to the safehouse, they might have chance to warn Penny and Luke.

The men nodded and signalled for Maria and Clyde to lead the way. The two teenagers moved off in front. Neither risked trying to talk, worried that the men might be listening in.

.

Penny slid the bags under the beds. They needed to hide the stuff. She wasn't sure how long they could be there and she had no idea if they would need to move or hide.

Luke was resting while his sister was restless. She wanted to have a tangable plan but really had nothing.

Then a knock echoed around. Both of the teenagers looked towards the door but realised that the sound was too distant. It was someone knocking against the door to the shop front.

"There's someone at the door." Penny said, her eyes locking with her brother's.

"Who?" Luke asked.

"Clyde and Maria." Penny answered, getting to her feet and glancing out of the window while still keeping hidden. "And the three Walapians."

"Maybe they threatened Clyde and Maria." Luke breathed.

Penny wasn't going to count anything out but she knew that if they were found in the base then Luke would be killed.

"You need to hide. I'll hide our things, just slide under the bed and I'll pull the covers down to make it look like we stayed the night then ran." Penny said, quickly taking control of the situation.

She helped Luke lower himself onto the floor. He was still very unable on his leg and Penny didn't want to risk him putting it out of place again.

"Where will you hide?" Luke asked as Penny pulled the covers over the side of the bed so they offered Luke a hiding place.

Penny didn't answer. She rushed off and moved the bags into hiding. Then she slid under the other bed and pulled the covers down to hide her.

They waited, feeling very claustrophobic. Penny had a bag at her feet while Luke had a few disguarded tools (clearly from another resident of the safe house) and a plug socket pushing into his arm.

.

"Looks like no one is home." Clyde said. "They've probably moved on."

It had been his idea to knock. It was the only way to warn Penny and Luke if they were inside. He had no idea what they were meant to if the men decided to set a trap for their friends.

"It was a waste of time knocking. It was clear that neither of the Smith Children would answer if a person knocked." Teta stated.

He turned to his men. Ger kicked against the door and sent it flying across the room. It was just another bit of evidence to prove to Clyde and Maria that the men were aliens.

"If the aliens have hunted them down, it might be safer for you to stay outside." Hil stated.

If it had really been UNIT, Maria and Clyde might have tried to act surprised. Instead they shook their heads, saying that they needed to go in.

"No. I must insist you stay outside." Ger stated.

"And I must insist that we're going in." Clyde argued back.  
>He was not going to let the aliens have any more chance of hurting his friends. That was when Ger pulled out his gun. He pointed it between the two and repeated what he had said before. Maria and Clyde paled. They stopped and watched helplessly as Teta and Hil entered the house.<p>

.

Penny and Luke both winced when they heard the creak of floorboards. They frowned as they realised it was two people. Penny leant forwards, reaching out to lift the covers slightly so she could see who had come in.

With any luck, it would be Maria and Clyde.

Neither Smith was very lucky that day. Teta and Hil were circling the room. They seemed extremely annoyed at finding it empty. Penny grinned at their annoyance but was still extremely nervous. She let the blanket drop down to cover her once more.

Under his bed, Luke had realised they needed a weapon. He could remember the beating he had received as if it was happening that second and it was so easy to imagine it taking place in that room. He wasn't sure what had happened to Maria and Clyde but he knew that they needed to rescue their friends. He shifted, his arm scraping against the plugs as he did so. He smiled as he had an idea.

Penny heard a noise from under Luke's bed and realised that if she could hear it then so could the Walapians. She lifted the covers and frowned. She could see two sets of posh leather shoes pointing towards Luke's bed.

Knowing she had to protect her brother, she thrust her leg up. It hit the mattress with a loud thump and the two pairs of shoes turned. Penny let the covers drop and rolled out from under the bed.

"Alright, you found me. No point looking for Luke through. I dropped him off at the hospital." she stated. "I was going to stay here so you had a smaller target to look for."

"If you intended to stay here, then where is your bag?" Teta asked, pulling out his gun.

Penny guessed her trick with the jackets had not been appreciated. She also assumed that was the reason that Teta suddenly seemed to want to kill her. There was something murderous in his eyes.

"It's under the bed." Penny stated.

She knelt down and fished the bag out from under the bed. Teta kept his gun pointed at her. She showed him the bag.

He studied it and then nodded.

"Which hospital?" he asked.

Penny didn't look at him. She studied her bag which was resting at her feet. She didn't want to give anything away. One slip up and Luke would be caught and killed.

"Which hospital?" Teta barked.

He took a step back so he could get a clearer shot. Penny reasoned that all logic was gone. Teta clearly didn't care that killing her would mean he would lose his one source of information on where Luke was.

"You really didn't like the trick with the jackets, did you?" Penny asked.

She noticed movement from under Luke's bed. The boy was lifting the covers and reach out with something. It looked like several lengths of wire, exposed copper at the ends.

As the tips of the wires made contact with Teta's leg, the alien was electrocuted. He began to convulse and he dropped his gun. Penny dove forwards before the alien hit the floor, snatching up the gun. She turned to Hil and pointed the gun at him. The alien drew his gun and pointed it at her. Penny had leapt away so she stood in front of Luke's bed and began to side step. The alien did not want to be circled so side stepped too. Penny offered him a confident smile which only grew when she ended up standing in front of her bed, meaning the alien was standing in front of Luke's.

Luke reached out again, electrocuting the Walapian in front of him.

"Oh, Luke, you are a genius. Even with concussion you can still save lives." Penny cheered, looking at the two unconscious aliens.  
>"What about Maria and Clyde?" Luke asked as he tried to slide himself out from under the bed.<p>

.

Ger seemed to be sure something was wrong. Maria and Clyde could tell he was nervous. He was probably nervous about the lack of screams coming from inside the building but he didn't want to go inside with the two teenagers.

Maria and Clyde weren't sure what they were meant to do. Ger still had his gun and they were hopeful that things weren't going the way the aliens wanted.

Ger tried his communicator and growled when there was no response.

"They're just that good." Clyde remarked proudly.

Ger turned to Clyde with a glare and pointed his gun at him.

"Give me one good reason why I should not kill you." Ger instructed.

.

"This is not good." Luke said.

Penny nodded. She still held the alien gun in her hand and had helped Luke over to the window so he could look out.

"We need to do something." Luke added.

He took the gun off Penny and asked if she knew if there was a stun setting. He managed to find a series of settings but the words were written in Walapian and neither of them understood it.

"Mr Smith would know." Luke pointed out.

"Then let's ask him." Penny beamed.

"How are we meant to contact him? We left our phones at home." Luke said.

"With this." Penny told him, pointing at her wristwatch.

Luke remembered what the Doctor had said with a smile.

"It's got a direct line to Mr Smith."

Penny nodded. She had been bored one night so had tested it out. She knew how it worked and had actually had a wonderful conversation with Mr Smith. She flipped the watch open and pressed the button on the side. Instantly a line appeared on the screen and, as Penny spoke, the line wobbled and waved.

"Mr Smith, can you tell us what Walapian for stun is?" Penny asked.

Mr Smith gave her the answer. He even spelt it out for them. Luke managed to find the right setting on the gun and handed it to Penny. She took aim.

.

Clyde and Maria gasped as a single shot took out Ger. They looked up to the window to see Penny and Luke smiling down at them.

"Do you want to come up?" Penny called.

The two of them nodded and hurried up the stairs.

.

Penny and Luke were waiting for Clyde and Maria to show up. Luke was sitting on his bed. Penny was sitting on the floor with her back resting against it.

"I'm really tired." Penny said. "Do you think Mum's come back from Scotland?"

Luke didn't answer. He didn't need to. Penny had drifted off to sleep only seconds later.

.

Penny woke up wrapped in soft warm sheets. She groaned and rolled over, smiling contently her herself. Movement caused every where to ache. She winced and opened her eyes, remembering what had happened.

She was met by a blinding light and white walls. A layer of crisp white covers were covering her body and she whipped them back, ignoring the agony coming from her arm. She was dressed in her clothes but her shoes, socks and hooded jacket had been removed. Her looked around the room and her vision blurred. She felt light headed and was panicking. She felt sick as she realised she was in a hospital ward.

Luke!

Her eyes lit up with terror. She gasped and glanced around madly.

"Luke! Luke!" she began shouting.

Her throat was dry but she didn't stop. She needed to see him and know that no one had seen his lack of belly button.

A man in a white lab coat walked through and looked at her. He was blurry to Penny and she rubbed her eyes so she could see him better. It didn't help. She assumed he was her doctor.

"Calm down, kiddo. You're in hospital."

"Where's Luke? Where's my brother? What have you done to him?" Penny asked.

There was a pause as the doctor looked at her. He frowned and leaned closer to her.

"Don't you recognise me, Penny?" he asked.

Penny squinted and then gasped.

"Mickey." she breathed.

He gave her a nod and explained that after Clyde and Maria had called the Torchwood group, they had all come up to help find her and Luke. They had found the two of them unconscious in the safe house and had rushed them into hospital.

"We took control of a few wards in the hospital to make sure you and Luke were safe." Mickey said.

"Can I see Luke?" Penny asked.

"Martha is checking him over now and your mum, Maria and Clyde are in there." Mickey said.

Penny swung around to get to her feet but her legs felt too weak. She looked around the ward.

"I'm too dizzy." she murmured.

"Well then, you can't walk like this." Mickey said, smirking.

.

Luke smiled at his friends and his mum. They smiled at him but pushed him down when he went to sit up.

"We might need to give you a leg brace, Luke, just to make sure that your leg is properly supported." Martha reported, smiling down at Luke.

Luke shifted in bed. Martha turned to Sarah Jane and began discussing how they would help Luke recover. Luke looked at Clyde and Maria.  
>"Sorry, we didn't go to you to for help but..."<p>

"It's okay, dude. There was a bounty on your head and you didn't want to put anyone else in danger." Clyde told him.

"We're just glad you're safe." Maria told Luke. "The Torchwood guys searched the aliens and found that they had come here to collect a bounty placed on your head by the Bane. It seems like they're doing this trail thing over the failed invasion and wanted your body as evidence."

Then the door was opened.

"Here comes trouble." Maria smirked.

Penny was sitting in a wheelchair, being pushed by Mickey. Clyde gasped as he saw her. Penny smirked.

"It's not as bad as it seems." Penny said. "Just a bit tired."

Luke smiled as he looked at his sister. She got Mickey to push the wheelchair closer and took Luke's hand.

"How's your head?" she asked.

Luke told her he was fine. That was when Martha returned with some crutches for him. Penny sighed and looked at her mother.

"Maybe you shouldn't have left us alone." Penny told her.

Sarah Jane shook her head, smiling slightly. She wrapped her arms around her children.

"You are both amazing."


	28. K-9

**Hello, it's me. I'm sorry I've been gone a long while. Been settling into a new school and it has been kinda crazy with work and stuff. Once again, sorry. **

**Thank GemYin for inspiration on this one.**

**I still don't own.**

.

Maria smiled as she looked at her friends. Luke was on his crutches still but it was only two weeks since the injury and he was speeding through the physo-therapy. They knew that part of that was thanks to the Bane programing but also Luke really hated not being at the same speed of everyone else. He was working as hard as he could to get back to normal.

It was fair to stay that the Smith children had both been pretty spoilt and no one could blame Sarah Jane for it. Both of the children had done something that would be a struggle for anyone.

However that night was about Maria. It was her farewell party. It was held in the attic so Mr Smith could come. K-9 had even made a short appearance, wishing Maria well. They had drank pop (normal pop, of course) and played games. There was still a bittersweet feeling in the air. The gang was being spilt up and Maria was one of the few who had been there from the start.

"I'm going to miss this." Maria murmured, looking at them.

Penny and Clyde smiled. Luke nodded but there was a deep sadness in his eyes. Sarah Jane offered her a compassionate smile.

"When I stopped travelling with the Doctor, I thought this is it. It's over. I was so wrong. There is always adventure – here, America, it doesn't matter."

Maria told her that she didn't mean the aliens.

"I mean Penny and Clyde telling me jokes in class, Luke correcting the teachers, playing football down at the park while my dad puts teenagers to shame with his skateboard skills." Maria told them.

She heard her voice crack and felt tears swell in her eyes. Her dad was downstairs, talking to her mum on the phone.

"I'm going to miss you so much." Maria managed.

She pulled each of them into a strong hug.

"We're not really apart." Luke said. "Even if you are on the other side of the world."

Maria smiled at him and moved forwards kissing him gently.

"I'm going to go. I've got a long journey to sleep for. I'll see you tomorrow." Maria said.

She got to her feet and offered the attic a final look around. Then she left the room.

.

Penny offered Sarah Jane a sad smile. Clyde had gone room and Luke had retreated into his room to think. It was just the two of them and, for a few seconds, it felt like those years before hand where it had really just been Penny and her mother. Penny lounged in the sofa at the end of the attic, holding a book without even attempting to read it. Sarah Jane sat at her computer. Mr Smith worked away on the far wall.

"How do you think Luke will find it? You know, he's never lost anyone before."

Sarah Jane told her daughter that they weren't losing Maria, not really. They would see her again.

"It won't be the same." Penny pointed out. "For Luke it is the closest he has felt to losing someone he cares about."

There was another pause as Sarah Jane thought about what she was going to say.

"Change is the only constant in the universe. The impact Maria has had will always be here and Luke will always remember her."  
>There was a pause before Penny suggested Sarah Jane go and talk to him, just to be sure. Looking closely at Penny, Sarah Jane decided to agree. She got to her feet and sent Penny a final glance before leaving the attic. Penny lingered in the sofa for a moment and then let the book drop onto the wooden floor.<p>

"Mr Smith, is it safe for him to come out?" Penny asked, looking towards the alien computer.

"I assume by 'him' you were referring to –"

Penny interrupted him by saying that he knew what she meant. After a pause the computer told her that it was safe. With a grin, Penny hurried over to the wall safe. She spun the lock to the correct places and then opened it, smiling out at the metal dog that positioned itself in front of the black hole.

"K-9! Mr Smith says it's safe for you to come out for a few minutes."

"Affirmative, young mistress. The breach will remain stable for, as you said, a few minutes."

There was a pause before the robot dog lit up with a bright light and then disappeared from the safe. Penny turned around just in time to see the dog reappear in the attic.

"Oh joy!" Mr Smith chorused sarcastically.

With a bow of the head, K-9 asked if Penny required his assistance. Kneeling down to stroke the metal, Penny shook her head.

"I just wanted to talk to you, K-9. Just like old times."

With a short series of bleeping, the robot dog reported that Penny's speech had developed greatly since the times she was referring to so it could be just like old times.

Giving a small laugh, Penny began to talk to the dog. She told him about her football training and about the date she had gone on with Clyde. K-9 listened politely but made comments whenever he felt Penny needed them. The girl talked quickly, knowing that K-9 could be called back at any second.

"Young mistress, may I ask if this is about your friend leaving for America?" K-9 asked after a few moments of silence.

"What a clever deduction, K-9." Mr Smith retorted.

Penny smiled and told them both to play nice. Suddenly Sarah Jane called up to Penny that the girl should go to bed.

"Just a minute, mum!" Penny called back down.

"No, now!" Sarah Jane shouted.

Penny rolled her eyes and looked back down at K-9. She told him that she had to go.

"You'd better go back to the black hole too. Someday, we'll get you out of there, okay?" Penny promised.

She carefully kissed K-9's forehead before rushing off out of the attic. After a pause, K-9 turned to Mr Smith.

"You will protect them, Mister Smith?" K-9 clarified.

"Of course." Mr Smith said.

With a nod, K-9 teleported away. Mr Smith muttered about how the dog was insufferable but there was fondness in his tone.

.

"There was a call last night." Alan said. "The house has already been sold."

He was talking to Chrissie. The other teenagers were packing things into the back of the taxi. Sarah Jane listened into Alan talking about the new neighbours but pushed it to the back of her mind. She would deal with it when the time came.

Maria moved over, leaving Luke, Penny and Clyde to pack the final suitcases.

"You have to come and see us." Maria said, hugging Sarah Jane. "Bring them all."

Sarah Jane nodded and promised that she would. Maria pulled back from the hug and offered the woman a smile.

"Thank you for everything." she added.

By then the other teenagers had done packing. Chrissie remarked that Alan should be paying them given how well they worked. Maria suddenly found herself attacked by three hugs.

"Good luck." Maria's friends chorused.

"You have to call us when you get there. The hologram device, remember?" Penny said.

"Going to miss not having you around." Clyde added.

"Just don't forget us." Luke finished.

Maria smiled and told them that she would never, could never, forget any of them. Slowly Penny and Clyde moved back to allow Maria and Luke some time alone. The two blushed and then Luke leant in and kissed Maria. He smiled as she pulled back.

"Stay safe, okay?" Luke said.

Maria nodded, the blush flourishing over her cheeks. She was completely speechless.

"Goodbye, Luke." was all she managed as she moved towards the taxi.

She waved at the others as she got inside. Alan climbed in on the other side and the taxi began to drive away. Luke, Penny and Clyde decided to chase it down the street, waving. It left Sarah Jane and Chrissie standing on the driveway. They watched the teenagers and then Chrissie spoke, her eyes not leaving the disappearing car.

"I remember it all, you know."

Taking aback, Sarah Jane wasn't quite sure what was being said. She turned to Chrissie and asked her what she meant.

"The Sontaran. What really happened with my shoe. Don't worry. I won't say anything." Chrissie said.

Sarah Jane smiled at her.  
>"Thank you." she said.<p>

"And I'm sorry that, back then, I called the police about Luke. I just thought he was… In danger." Chrissie added. "People always say I stick my nose in where it isn't wanted but… It was aliens, wasn't it? Luke was made by aliens."

"How about I answer all your questions over a nice cup of tea?" Sarah Jane said, leading the way inside.

.

Luke was woke up in the middle of the night by his phone going off. He winced as he sat up and looked around. He turned to his phone and answered it, seeing that it was Mr Smith calling.

"Luke! Get up to the attic now!" Mr Smith ordered.

Reacting to the urgency in the computer's voice, Luke threw of the covers and winced as his eyes settled on his crutches.

.

When Luke got into the attic, he saw Penny was already in the room. Both teenagers were still in pyjamas but Penny had pulled on a dressing gown. Seconds later, Sarah Jane came into the room. She looked between Penny and Luke, her first thoughts being for the safety of her children. Then she looked at Mr Smith.

"What is this about, Mr Smith?" Sarah Jane asked.

The computer began to explain in long scientific terms.

"English!" Penny instructed.

"The black hole that the dog was monitoring has suddenly gone critical." Mr Smith announced. "My attempts to make contact have failed."

Penny raced over to the safe and opened it. She looked out at the black hole and at the complete lack of K-9.

"He's gone." she gasped.

She looked back at Mr Smith and then at her mother and brother. No one could offer any answers.

"Can you stabilise the black hole?" Luke asked.

There was a pause and Mr Smith said he could but only for a limited time.

"How long?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Until eleven tomorrow morning at best." Mr Smith said.

He announced he would currently stabilise it and then a timer clicked up on his screen. It announced they had twelve hours.

"We have twelve hours to find K-9." Luke breathed.

.

Carla woke up to hear someone hammering on the front door. She pulled on her dressing gown and stumbled down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. Suddenly Clyde darted down the stairs, pushing past his mother. He was dressed and pulling on a jacket as he went.

"Mum, it's Luke and Penny. Family crisis. Sorry. Go back to bed, mum." he said.

Carla looked at Clyde, confused, but he told her that it was nothing big, he just needed to be there for his friends.

"Okay, well, try and get some sleep while you're there." Carla said, unsure what else to say.

She watched to check out her son's story and was there when he opened the door. Penny stood on the doorstep, looking distraught. Without a word, Clyde had caringly wrapped an arm around Penny's shoulders and was leading her away from the house.

The door was shut and Clara felt slightly sick. She considered going out to offer some help to them but there was nothing she felt able to do.

.

"What happened?" Clyde asked, climbing into the car.

Sarah Jane was driving and Penny was sitting in the back. Clyde had been called by her, saying that they were coming over and that something big was happening. Luke wasn't in the car and Clyde felt instantly worried about the other boy. With Luke's injuries, he could only imagine what might have happened to him.

"Is Luke okay?" Clyde asked, although not sure if he was prepared to hear the answer.

Penny told him that Luke was fine as Sarah Jane drove them back to the Smith house. She was driving quickly – Clyde was sure she was breaking the speed limit – and staying silent.

"K-9's gone missing." Penny explained. "And the black hole he was dealing with is getting worse."

.

When they reached the attic, Clyde was surprised to find Luke with his arm reaching out into the safe. A series of wires connected to Mr Smith were trailing into the safe. Noticing Luke was getting uncomfortable, Penny rushed across the attic and took up his job.

"It's a scan." Luke explained. "To help Mr Smith tell what might have happened."

"Do you think…?" Penny began, her eyes looking back towards the black hole.

Sarah Jane moved forwards and reminded Penny that K-9 was more careful than that. He had never got caught by the black hole before and knew exactly how to avoid it.

"He's probably just got lost." Luke added, knowing it was a terrible suggestion but being unable to come up with any more.

"We could put up signs – 'missing dog' 'breed – metal'" Clyde joked.

It did little to relieve the mood. With K-9 missing and a clear sign of the world on the verge of being destroyed in Sarah Jane's safe, there was little that could comfort them. They stayed silent, Luke sitting in a chair with his crutches by his side, Penny and Clyde lingering near the safe, Sarah Jane watching as Mr Smith scanned the open space for any clues.

"I had found traces of a teleportation beam." the alien computer suddenly replied.

Pulling the scanner back in, Penny and Clyde raced around to look at Mr Smith. He began to pinpoint a location on the screen but it meant nothing to the humans.  
>"This is where the dog was taken from."<p>

"It's not this side of the teleport beam we're interested in, Mr Smith." Sarah Jane said, almost exasperated.

Mr Smith paused for a moment as he tried to locate where the teleport beam had moved K-9. Everyone waited with baited breath, hoping Mr Smith would have the answers. They smiled as a map of Earth came up and Mr Smith began to zoom in, saying he had found a possible location.

"It appears that the building has been shielded but there is enough traces of identical energy to suggest that the…"  
>"Same people who took K-9 have been there, if not taking him there." Penny finished.<p>

A beam flooded her face as the warehouse was only half an hour's drive away. They could easily make it there, find K-9 and get him back before the black hole became a massive problem.

"Come on, not a moment to lose." Sarah Jane said, getting ready to go.

The teenagers all got to their feet and Penny moved over to her mum first and whispered in her ear to remind her about Luke. Eyes widening, Sarah Jane glanced back towards her son. She realised that he would not be able to keep up if something dangerous happened and she certainly couldn't expect penny to protect her brother again like Penny had done while dealing with the Getri. It simply wasn't fair on the teenager.

"Luke, you have to stay here." Sarah Jane said. "I need you to keep an eye on Mr Smith and do anything he needs. If he needs more power, use whatever, I'll get it replaced."

She turned away before Luke could protest and was already heading out of the attic.

"Stay safe, bro." Penny instructed before leaving the attic.

Luke called Clyde back and told him to look after Penny and Sarah Jane. Giving his best friend a nod, Clyde left the attic.

.

Sarah Jane sped through the city. Clyde and Penny would wince at each rapid turn, frowning at the sound of rubber tyres screeching along the road.

"Why do you think they took K-9?" Clyde asked, looking towards Penny.

The two were sitting in the back, finding it easier to find comfort in each other than with Sarah Jane who was focused on driving.

"There are loads of reasons: he's advanced tech, he's got his fair share of enemies, he's generally what villains see as mine and mum's last line of defence. Not many aliens know about Mr Smith but K-9 would often join us when I was younger and for a while before the Black Hole was made." Penny explained.

Clyde could hear the sad fondness in her voice and was reminded once more that, for a good deal of Penny's childhood, K-9 had been her closest friend. He knew how quickly Penny had accepted them all into her life but the bond she must have developed with K-9 was something Clyde couldn't comprehend. It was a struggle for him to think about all the things Penny must have told K-9: that dog probably knew everything from what Penny really thought of her mother's cooking to what scared the girl to how Penny had felt when her home had suddenly been invaded by her brother.

"We're going to get him back safe. We always manage this sort of stuff." Clyde said, smiling at her. "And you know, if he's going to randomly go missing like this, we're going to have to put him on a leash."  
>It was a poor joke but it drew a sighed laugh from Penny. She smiled slightly and, although neither Smith said anything, Clyde could tell both had appreciated his attempt to cheer Penny up.<p>

.

Luke felt almost trapped in the attic. His eyes were fixed on Mr Smith's screen, reading and interpreting the data the computer provided. It was clear that the computer was being drained by his efforts to keep the black hole closed but the computer had also said he was using technology similar to that K-9 was using to the black hole was being held back.

"It was an upgrade from the Doctor." Mr Smith explained, bringing up a schematic of K-9 in the hope of distracting Luke by stimulating his genius intellect.

"Don't you just get annoyed?" Luke growled, his knuckles turning white as he gripped his crutches. "Being stuck here while they're out saving the world."

"It can be irritating but I understand my role. I do not enjoy the occasional check ins where questions are asked but no real explanation is offered to me until after the threat has been dealt with." Mr Smith mused.

Luke offered him a nod and said that he just wanted to be out there with the others. Mr Smith paused for a second.

"Is it because you are concerned that they will not make it back safely?" the computer inquired.

With reluctance, the young man gave the Xylok a nod.

.

The warehouse looked like any other warehouse and Clyde was almost disappointed at how unremarkable it was. He wasn't sure what he had wanted: a hole in the roof where the spaceship had come crashing through, some sort of alien sludge on the floor, a gloving sign that read 'aliens here'.

Sarah Jane climbed out of the car first but lingered to make sure the teenagers were with her.

"This is the place that K-9 was teleported, right?" Penny confirmed, getting a silent nod from her mother.

Clyde forced a smirk and remarked that it was always the way, dogs running off and being found in the strangest places. Shaking her head but smiling slightly, Penny took her boyfriend's hand. She began to lead him towards the warehouse.

As they walked, they past a few discarded cardboard boxes with the logo for a toyshop that had gone out of business years ago. A wire mesh fence circled the warehouse and a rusted lock held the only gate closed.

"Looks like no one has come in here in ages." Penny remarked, brushing the rust with her fingertips.

She looked towards her mother who gave it a quick blast with her sonic before moving the opened lock. As it was removed, the lock squeaked in protest.

"I think it is safe to assume that no one has used this gate in a long time." Clyde remarked, pulling on the gate.

It shuddered and a few strips of rust rained down. A look of horror filled Penny's face as she realised what it meant.

"There are plenty of ways the aliens could have gotten in without using the gate." Clyde said quickly but he had spoken to fast and was forced to pause for ideas.

"They had a teleporter." Sarah Jane pointed out. "Maybe they teleported themselves inside so they didn't have to worry about being spotted."

Penny nodded slowly and pulled more on the gate. It moved a small distance before jamming itself in the concrete of the carpark floor. Sighing, she edged through the small gap the fence offered.

"Maybe that's why they didn't use the gate." Penny reasoned, trying to force herself to stay cheerful.

.

The sight that greeted them inside the warehouse was both a relief and a shock. A large grey cube like spaceship stood in front of them, resting on a tripod of legs. The outline of the barred windows glinted against the metal sides and made it feel much more dangerous.

Penny and Clyde both went to go first but Sarah Jane held them back. She didn't want them to wander straight into danger, especially not after the way Penny and Luke had been treated at the hands of the Walapians. Slowly, she moved forwards and up the lowered ramp.

.

"Hello?" Sarah Jane called as they walked into the space ship.

Penny opened up her watch and slowly looked around. Sarah Jane had a hand on her sonic. Clyde pulled out his torch and shone it around.

"What tech is this?" Clyde asked, looking at the metal walls.

It seemed like the inside of a submarine, not a spaceship. There were flicking dials set in into the walls and a clanking noise from inside the ship. Penny checked her watch.

"It's Maxicone." Penny answered. "I've never heard of them. I assume they're bad, given that they took K-9."

"Can you pick up any life signs?" Sarah Jane asked.

Penny nodded, pointing down the corridor. She told them that they need to go down there.

"I think that there is nine or ten aliens down there."

A frown came and the girl shifted.

"What's wrong?" Clyde asked, looking towards Penny.

Sarah Jane had moved off down the corridor, heading towards where Penny had pointed. Penny told Clyde that she couldn't find K-9 on her watch.

.

Luke was sitting in the attic. He was bored as Mr Smith worked on keeping the black hole from going out of control. His crutches rested beside him.  
>"Mr Smith, can you call Maria?" Luke asked.<p>

There was a pause before Mr Smith made the call. Luke waited for the call to be answered.

"Hey, Mr Smith…" Maria began. "Isn't it late where you are?"

"K-9 has gone missing. Mum and the others think they know where he is but…" Luke sped out.

He looked down at his crutches. Maria asked what was going to happen to the black hole.

"Mr Smith is holding it back. We have until eleven tomorrow morning to get everything sorted out."

Luke could hear a sigh from the girl as she took in what was happening.

"I picked a terrible time to leave." Maria said.

"No, it's not your fault. I just… I hate my crutches. I hate not being able to join the others. I… I hate not having you around." Luke managed.

Maria took a deep breath and told him that he wasn't alone. She quickly told him that he would always be able to talk to the others.

"But it's not the same. It won't feel the same without you and I… I really, really miss you."

There was a pause as Maria sucked in another deep breath. For a moment there was silence and Luke was sure that the girl was considering hanging up on him.

"We missed our chance, didn't we? We only really thought about getting together when we both knew I was leaving and… Maybe we should have both taken a leaf from Penny and Clyde's book."

Luke nodded and, feeling tears swelling in the corners of his eyes, decided to change the subject.

.

Sarah Jane edged the door open and took in the control room in front of her. A series of tentacled aliens stood there. They let out chirps as their mandibles clicked together and had tentacles in the place of their arms and legs. Both of the Smiths would have easily compared the Maxicones with the Bane except the former walked upright and had two eyes instead of one.

There was a pause as the Maxicones all turned to face them. They were dressed in armour and studied the teenagers and Sarah Jane with frowns on their faces.

"Who are you?" the clear leader of the Maxicone asked.

His armour was dotted with shining gems that the Humans assumed to be the alien form of medals. His English was perfect.

The journalist paused for only a second before speaking with a low, strong voice.

"My name is Sarah Jane Smith. I'm here because we believe my dog has been taken by you. K-9 is very important to not only me, my family and my friends but he protects the Earth from a black hole."

There was a pause as a series of chirps rose from the aliens. Sarah Jane glanced towards Penny and Clyde, making sure that she stood between the teenagers and the aliens. Then the sound of the lead alien clearing his throat got their attention.

"My name is Commander Kax. I am the Commander of this vessel and we believed your dog to be some form of Black Hole Activation Device. We teleported it away in the hope that it would close the black hole. It is clear we were mistaken and you have our sincerest apologies."

"Does that mean we get to take K-9 back with us?" Penny asked, stepping forwards.

"Of course. If his presence on our ship puts your planet in danger, we must return your pet straight away."

"Thanks." Clyde said, smiling.

He wasn't sure how well Penny would cope if they had been needed to fight for K-9's return. Kax turned to Sarah Jane with a smile before politely asking for her to repeat her name.  
>"I really am sorry, Sarah Jane."<p>

He turned to his men and snapped a series of clicked instructions before explaining to the humans that he had asked for them to find out where the dog had been put. There was a pause before one of the Maxicones hurried over and chirped something at his Commander.

"It appears we teleported the device into storage area three." Kax said. "It should be no problem getting him back. We'll send the teenagers. Once again, I apologise for taking your dog from you."

Penny gave the commander a nod and two Maxicone moved to take them to wherever K-9 was. Looking to Sarah Jane to check they should go, Penny and Clyde received a nod from her. The woman was disarmed by the kindness of the aliens so was ready to let the teenagers go.

"It was nice meeting you, Penelope, Clyde." Kax said as the teenagers left.

.

As Clyde and Penny were escorted down the corridors, Clyde couldn't shake that something was up. There was something about the entire situation that suddenly didn't sit right with him.

"You okay?" Penny asked. "You're being very quiet."

Clyde quietly whispered his suspicions to her and then looked at the aliens.

"Is there anything you require, Clyde?" one of the Maxicones asked.

At this Clyde frowned. He looked towards Penny, trying to remember when he was introduced himself to the aliens. If the aliens had not been aware who Sarah Jane was then how could they have known who he and Penny were – moreover, how did they know to actually call Penny Penelope when Clyde knew no one had called Penny that for a while.

"I need the toilet." Clyde said. "Can I have directions?"

The Maxicones turned to look at them and frowned. Clyde began to press his need to go to the toilet.

"We do not have human toilets on our ship. I am afraid you will have to collect your dog and then go."

"But I'm really desperate." Clyde said. "Do you think I could leave the ship and go?"

The Maxicones glanced between each other and then looked at Clyde.

"Collecting your dog will not take long." the aliens said.

"It's almost as if they have orders not to let us leave the ship, Penny." Clyde said, wanting to be sure that Penny had picked up on what he meant.

The girl seemed to have already realised and sent him a nod, continuing on their jest by saying how strange that would be.

"You know what I would do if they really had orders like that." Clyde said. "I would… Run!"

With that, both teenagers pushed past the aliens, racing through the metal corridors of the spaceship.

.

Sarah Jane turned towards Kax. She felt as if something was wrong but couldn't place it. She could see Kax was watching the security footage of Penny and Clyde walking down the corridor with the Maxicones and suddenly felt her heart stop.

Kax had called the teenagers by their names. How could he have known their names – especially Penny's full name – if he hadn't known about K-9? Something was terribly wrong and Sarah Jane was desperate to get to her daughter and the girl's boyfriend.

Suddenly Kax let out a growl of rage. Sarah Jane's eyes fixed onto the screen just in time to see Penny and Clyde barrelling past the aliens and down the corridor.

"I think that is my cue to leave." Sarah Jane said quietly to herself.

She began to back over to the door, making sure that Kax and the other Maxicones were distracted in their anger. When she reached the door, however, a Maxicone was blocking it. She was pushed forwards.

"Leaving so soon?" Kax said, a gleeful smile flooding his features.

.

Clyde reached the airlock first and rapidly spun the wheel, hearing the door opening. Penny skidded level with the door and pushed Clyde in before her, slamming the door shut on the Maxicones. Scanning the area, Clyde managed to find a pipe of metal that he used to jam the wheel. Slowly, both teenagers slipped down to the floor, smiles on their faces.  
>"I needed that." Penny smirked. "A rush of adrenaline."<p>

Clyde nodded and got to his feet, offering the girl a hand up. Penny took it and, when they were both standing, they scanned the room.

"Okay, let's brainstorm questions." Penny said.

"What do they want with us? Where is Sarah Jane? Why did they take K-9? What is… What on Earth is this room?"

The two teenagers began to look around, trying to work out where they were. A series of doors lined the walls in front of them, making the room look like some sort of junction. Clyde suggested it might be a hallway for the aliens but Penny shook her head.

"I'm not sure. Luke's much better at this than me but I think we're right next to the side of the ship. There's not enough space for a network of corridors to be against that wall."  
>She pointed to the far wall. Clyde quickly ran through what he could remember about the ship and decided that Penny's statement was most likely true.<p>

"Then where to they lead?" Clyde asked.

Penny shrugged and began to walk forwards, her hands latching onto the cold metal wheel. Slowly she began to turn it.

.

"Where are those teenagers?" Kax growled, glaring at Sarah Jane.

The woman was trying to stay relaxed. Penny and Clyde were managing to avoid the alien patrols that Kax had sent out to catch them.  
>"You have already denied us the other boy, tell me where the children having gone."<p>

Sarah Jane knew she wouldn't give up Penny and Clyde even if she knew where they had gone. Kax had made a series of veiled threats about attacking Earth while asking Sarah Jane to give him the coordinates of her house. She had assumed when he had starting asking that Luke and possibly Mr Smith held places on Kax's wanted list.

.

A gasp spilled from Clyde's mouth as Penny pulled opened the door. An alien was trapped in a small pod, his pinched features almost rat like in appearance. Being so close to an alien made Penny's watch bleep rapidly. She looked away from the alien to flick open her watch and read out the species – 'Tivolian'. As the alien came to his senses, he got to his feet and moved forwards, smiling at Penny and Clyde.

"Hello, king and queen or another appropriate title." the alien chorused, giving a small bow. "I am grateful for being selected by such fine conquers as yourselves for whatever task you have for me."

"Um…" Penny began, completely thrown. "We're not conquers."

"But, your highness, you must be conquers. The lands of Tivoli are yours. I do hope you appreciate the electric signs that allow us to use whichever language you wish, it's my job to program them."

Clyde and Penny turned towards each other before quickly trying to explain that they had no intention of conquering anywhere. They said that they were just looking for their dog which confused the Tivolian a bit. Then the two teenagers decided to send the alien on his way.  
>"You need to go and wait outside."<p>

"Do you two need to plan your conquering of the rest of the planet? If you do, I will be happy to offer assistance."

"Not conquers." Clyde instructed. "Now go and wait outside the spaceship so you're not in the way."

The Tivolian gave a small bow before hurrying out of the room. Penny and Clyde watched him go before turning to each other, slightly confused. Then they remembered the matter at hand.

"We need to let these aliens free." Penny said. "They're prisoners, probably zapped from their planets by the Maxicone."

Clyde nodded. He moved towards the nearest of the air locks and began to turn the wheel. It grinded open and a series of small creatures waddled out of their cell. Looking down at the strange pale creatures, Clyde bit back a laugh.

The creatures stopped by Clyde's feet, interested for a moment before moving towards Penny who had just rested her hands against the nearest lock.

"Adipose." she breathed, having to fight the urge to bend down and lift them up.

Giving a small smile, the girl looked around and then kicked against a small vent cover, allowing the Adipose a way of escaping. The baby aliens chirped for a few seconds before slipping into the vent.

"Adipose. I've heard that before. Wasn't that some health food or…?"

"Health pill." Penny corrected, spinning the lock on the cell in front of her.

Clyde had already moved onto the next cell.

.

In the Maxicone control room, a bleeping filled the air. Sarah Jane paused, her eyes settling on a screen. A gasp escaped her as she realised that the alarm was about cells being opened and the culprits were her teenaged companions.

"They are as problematic as our sources suggested." the commander growled. "Go and deal with them."

A trio of his men moved towards the doors. They gave chirps as they exchanged more information.  
>"If your men hurt them…" Sarah Jane began.<p>

"If my men hurt them, then they will be punished. Your friends will be a wonderful part of my collection and having them in the best condition is paramount."

.

Clyde smiled as he was forced to sidestep to avoid a small chirping alien that was sliding across the floor. He reached out for the next wheel, glancing over to check on Penny. The girl was laughing joyfully, clearly happy about the adventure she was having. She was helping a slightly frail looking alien climb out of her pod.

Suddenly a bellow of clicks broke into the air. Penny and Clyde glanced at each other before turning to the aliens and instructing them to hide. Deciding that freeing the other aliens would be more important than hiding themselves, the two teenagers began to rapidly work on freeing others.

They heard the clicking get louder as the Maxicones moved into the room and one of the aliens struggled through a demand that the teenagers gave themselves up. Neither Penny nor Clyde broke their stride in freeing the prisoners.

The Maxicones paused, receiving orders from Kax. Clyde glanced over his shoulder just in time to see one of the aliens moving forwards and towards them.

"Penny, we've got a problem." he said.

Penny gasped as one of the Maxicone's managed to latch one of his tentacles around her waist. She strained on the wheel in front of her, silently begging whichever alien she had released to help her escape. Seeing only the back of the cell in front of her, Penny assumed that she had opened an empty one and felt her heart sink.

Suddenly a red beam shot out from inside the cell. It shot past Penny's ear with frightening accuracy and sent the Maxicone tumbling to the floor.

"K-9, you good dog." Penny cheered, her eyes settling upon the alien that had saved her.

She turned to see Clyde had been cornered by the other two Maxicone's. Looking down at

K-9, Penny gave a smile.

"Want to play fetch, K-9?" Penny asked. "Fetch Clyde."

The dog bleeped and fired two blasts. The Maxicones convulsed in pain before dropping onto the floor. Clyde looked down and then his eyes settled on Penny and K-9.

"Did you kill them?" he asked.

"Blasts set on stun. I could not risk the young mistress with a fatal blast." K-9 informed Clyde.

Penny knelt down and looked at K-9. She told him how much she had missed him and the metal dog gave her a few happy bleeps.

"We have other people to free. K-9, can you keep an eye on the door?" Penny said.

The metal dog began to wheel around and Penny and Clyde turned, their eyes fixing on the wheels they had to turn.

.

"Your companions almost cause too many problems for me to keep them alive." Kax sneered, looking at Sarah Jane.

He had watched the entire scene on his screen and Sarah Jane was on the verge of jumping for joy at the fact that not only had the teenagers found K-9 but were freeing most of the alien prisoners.

Her heart filled with hope as Penny and Clyde freed the final prisoner and then turned to each other. Suddenly Penny's eyes narrowed and she looked straight up at where the camera must have been. Kax growled at the image and, dragging Clyde into a kneel beside K-9, Penny quickly conferred with the two of them. They whispered, stopping Kax from being able to hear their discussion.

"It is no matter." Kax said, visibly calming. "I can follow their movements and learn their plan using my security cameras."

Sarah Jane stiffened, frowning. As much as Kax said he didn't wish the teenagers to be 'damaged' so his collection was the best, she knew that aliens sometimes found the children who travelled with her annoying. She didn't believe that Kax was the sort of man who would be able to hold back his temper, especially when dealing with the teenagers who had released much of his collection.

She slipped her sonic out of her pocket and aimed it towards the screen. A quick blast turned the screen into a dull sparking mess. Kax threw himself to his feet, roaring and flaring his nostrils at Sarah Jane. The journalist stood there calmly. She had a suspicion about what the teenagers might be planning to do.

.

Sarah Jane was getting nervous, Kax had sent out all of the guards in his room to hunt down Penny and Clyde. It seemed as if the rest of the collection had been sacrificed in return for the teenagers. She was alone with the commander of the ship but hesitant to leave, given how she could constantly be aware of what was going on and, if needed, offer Penny and Clyde assistance.

That was where there was a knock at the door and a series of rapid clicking. Kax frowned, clearly confused by the message. He shouted for the Maxicone to open the door. Slowly the door swung open and Kax's face fell. Penny, Clyde and K-9 stood there, the humans beaming madly. Penny and Clyde bounced into the room, Clyde holding the door open for the metal dog that was accompanying them.

"K-9's voice recording feature is still in good shape." Penny announced proudly, smiling at her mother.

Sarah Jane rushed forwards, pulling her daughter into a hug. Kax watched the scene in disgust.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call my guards into this room right now?" the alien growled, his eyes flicking between the trio.

He never once looked down towards K-9.

"Because we have more firepower than you, we've won. Your collection is falling apart." Clyde said. "In fact, I think that Penny only needs to say three words before you give in."

There was a pause as the alien scoffed to himself. Sarah Jane released her daughter, allowing the girl to take a step forwards. She met Kax's gaze with a glare.

"K-9, attack mode." Penny said simply.

Kax frowned and knew he had been defeated.

.

"I've called Captain Jack. He says Torchwood will happily take our aliens off our hands and, if possible, rehouse them on Earth or another planet nearby." Sarah Jane announced, walking into the attic and holding her phone. "He also says that there's a nice cell for Kax and his men in the Hub."

She paused for a moment as she took in the scene in front of her and smiled. She was happy to see her children and their friend all smiling despite the big events that had run up to then. She was overwhelmed at how happy they made her. K-9 bleeped up at her as he moved over.

"You are happy, mistress." he stated, prying as to why.

The journalist smiled as told him that she was just happy that everyone was okay.

"We were worried about you, K-9." Sarah Jane said. "And we missed you."

"It is mutual, mistress."

Sarah Jane knelt down and patted the dog's side.

"You're a good dog, K-9." she said.

"Affirmative." the dog replied.

Grinning wider, Sarah Jane said she was going to call to check in on Alan and Maria, to make sure they got to America safely. Luke was about to say that he had already spoken to Maria but decided against it, deciding the conversation was better between just him and Maria. As Sarah Jane left the attic, Penny and Clyde came over to the dog.

"It was really nice seeing you, K-9." Penny beamed.

"Yeah, seems like every time you come out of that safe, you save us from something." Clyde added.

Penny and Luke both sent wary glances towards Mr Smith and for a few moments everyone was silent.

"I can't wait until the next time you come out, K-9." Penny said.

"Affirmative, young mistress."  
>There was a series of bleeps from the robot dog and Luke stepped forwards.<p>

"Do you need to go back now?"

"Affirmative."

"Goodbye, K-9." Penny said, managing to keep herself smiling. "It was nice having you out on an adventure. Felt just like old times."

"I appreciated your company, young mistress. Indeed it was similar to our battle with the Krillitanes."

With that the robot dog teleported himself back into the safe to deal with the black hole. Penny stood up and turned to Clyde.

"Krillitanes?" the boy asked.

"Another story for another time, Clyde." Penny said, smiling gently as she left the attic.

"It's a great story though." Luke added, rushing out before Clyde could make any comment.

.

**I want to do one more story before I bring Rani in. Any suggestions on a story containing a gang made up of the Smiths and Clyde would be very helpful.**

**Thanks for reading. As you exit the fanfiction, please leave all your reviews in the small box below this message.**


	29. New Year

**Hello, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! **

**I wrote this for Mystic Lover of the Fairytale who asked for a Christmas chapter but I missed Christmas so went for New Years with Christmas reminiscing instead.**

**I know it is a tiny chapter but I didn't have much time. Next up is Day of the Clown! (Unless anyone else has any requests)**

**Enjoy!**

.

Christmas tree lights sparkled in one corner of the room and the stereo blasted out a pop song Luke had never heard before. Clyde drove his hand into a bowl of nibbles, quickly depositing them on his paper plate before turning back to continue his conversation with Luke.

The young man was finally off his crutches and, despite the occasional slight limp, was managing very well without them. He was finishing the final touches that would flick the television over to the London fireworks display so he and Clyde could play video games.

Sarah Jane was watching the two boys, smiling as they joked and laughed. Then Luke, finishing up his work, slipped out a video game he had gotten for Christmas.

"Whoa, that game hasn't even been released yet!" Clyde squeaked in shock.

"It pays to have an Uncle in America." Luke answered, opening the case with a click.

Clyde shot Sarah Jane a strange look, saying he hadn't known Sarah Jane had a brother.

"I don't, not really. My aunt took in a ward after I left home. He is the closest thing I had to a sibling."

"Speaking of siblings, where has Penny got to?" Clyde asked.

Sarah Jane frowned, realising that her daughter was no where to be seen. She instantly knew where she was and darted out of the room.

.

"Clyde's looking for you downstairs." Sarah Jane said, smiling as she entered the attic.

Penny pulled back from where she was looking into the telescope. She smiled at her mother and told her that Clyde knew where to find her.

"As soon as he's finished his video games with Luke, he'll be here." the teenager told her.

She looked back out at the night sky, watching the stars.

"Mr Smith won't come out when I call him. It's his own New Years' tradition." Penny sighed, giving the chimney stack a glance. "We never did ever celebrate New Years, did we?"

"Never really had reason to." Sarah Jane answered.

She come remember allowing her little girl to stay up, putting on a film or allowing the girl to catch up with the telly that she'd missed while fighting aliens. Sarah Jane had occupied herself with catching up with work and packing away the Christmas decorations. They'd never had a party and never really spent New Years together.

"It's been one crazy year." Penny remarked. "Bubbleshock, Sontarans, Mr Smith and actually making friends. I have a brother now. I never really expected that. I didn't really expect to ever have friends."

Sarah Jane smiled at her daughter as she pulled up a chair behind her, looking out at the sky.

"It's been good, though, for the both of us. I can't think of a single thing I want to change back."

Penny thought for a second and then her usual cheeky smile crossed her face.

"Not even the mess we all made. We couldn't see the carpet for hours after we'd unwrapped all the presents."

Sarah Jane laughed at the memories. She had been more than happy to spoil her children given all they had gone through. It had been Luke's first Christmas as well and Sarah Jane had wanted it to be perfect. The house was now covered in decorations and the bins overflowing with wrapping paper.

"The look on your face when Luke was unwrapping his presents. I haven't seen you that impatient since you were five."

"He took hours!" Penny pointed out. "He refused to rip it. We were just lucky that the Brig didn't mind Luke continuing when he got here for Christmas dinner."

Sarah Jane nodded. It was a tradition for the Brig to always join them for Christmas dinner and it was also one of the few they decided to keep alive that year. Long gone were the years where Penny would sit and play quietly with her new presents while Sarah Jane cooked in the kitchen. Everything had been prepared on Christmas Eve as a family and the morning was spent together, Luke filling in the gaps while Sarah Jane had needed to nip out to check on the turkey.

"And you ate all of the Christmas dinner. That's the first time you've managed it."

"First time Clyde's given you tips as well." Penny joked, earning a playful glare from her mother.

Soon even the fake glare was impossible to keep up and Sarah Jane found herself smiling once more. She was thankful for the other teenagers of the gang. She knew Penny had woken up at midnight to call Clyde and be the first to wish him Merry Christmas. She also knew that Luke had contacted Maria at the same time and again when it was midnight in America so they could be the first to wish each other Merry Christmas for each other's Christmases.

"I wouldn't change a thing about this year." Sarah Jane remarked.

Penny scoffed, shaking her head. She quickly told her mum there was something she'd change about the year but it was only one thing.

"What?" Sraha Jane asked.

Penny smiled mischievously, getting up from her seat. She moved across the room to the door, her mother repeating her question once more.

Stopping in the doorway and turning back, Penny answered: "I wish it would have happened sooner."


	30. Day of the Clown part 1

Sarah Jane smiled as she put down the story book she had just read to Penny. The Pied Piper of Hamelin was Penny's favourite story despite her mother don't liking it. However it did the job and the five year old was now sleeping soundly. Sarah Jane was exhausted but content to watch her little girl sleep. Soon she drifted off beside her.

.

"Penny?" Sarah Jane called as she walked through the corridors of some sort of wax museum filled with models of clowns.

Nerves were rippling through her and she found herself jumping at shadows. Then a squeeze on her hand told her that her daughter was by her side. She smiled and knelt down, kissing the girl's forehead.

"Mummy, you're shaking." Penny said, voice trembling.

"I just don't like clowns, Penny." Sarah Jane replied. "Now, don't leave my sight. Don't."

Penny smiled and nodded. Then a stream of eerie music echoed through the corridors. Penny's eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face.

"Mummy, that music's beautiful."

And then she ran off.

Sarah Jane chased after her had already lost her in a maze of corridors and wax dummies. She would see glimpses of her daughter but never got a really good look.

"Penny!" Sarah Jane screamed.

She ran forwards and gasped. Her daughter was standing in front of a tall figure dressed in the clothes of a clown. They had a wide cruel sneer drawn onto their face and was holding a colourful cloth. He waved the cloth around and Penny completely disappeared from view. When she reappeared, she was dressed in clothes similar to the clown and had clown make-up covering her face. Sarah Jane moved forwards, trying to get to her daughter but too scared to reach out for her.

"This is what you fear the most, isn't it? Losing your little girl. I can taste your fear. Fear will cost you your daughter."

Sarah Jane knew she could have reached Penny. She could have moved forwards and grabbed her daughter but she was frozen to the spot with fear. She watched as she clown turned to Penny and led her through a dark mirror. As soon as the clown had disappeared, Sarah Jane raced forwards and tried to grab her daughter. Penny and the clown were gone. The mirror was solid.

"Penny!" Sarah Jane screamed.

.

Sarah Jane opened her eyes wide, trembling in horror. She saw her little girl sleeping in bed and tried to calm herself. However, the mother's cries from her nightmare had got her daughter stirring and Penny sat up, looking at Sarah Jane with sleepy eyes.

"Mummy?" Penny called.

"Its okay, Penny, I'm here."

"What's wrong?" Penny asked.

Sarah Jane didn't answer. She just pressed the little girl's head into her shoulder and rested her own chin on the little girl's head. Then she begged whoever was listening to keep the creatures of the dark away from her little girl.

.

Memories of that night had been long forgotten. By the next day Penny had forgotten about her mother's fears and over the years Sarah Jane had forced the nightmare away.

Sarah Jane sighed as she packed the school bags of her two teenaged children. As independent as they were, both refused to do simple jobs around the house. This time Sarah Jane was a little more understanding, Luke had just got an email from Maria and the two friends were missing her.

"She misses us." Luke said, slowly.

"Of course she does." Penny told him.  
>Sarah Jane smiled as she finished packing the school bags and then picked up the newspaper. Instantly her smile vanished.<p>

A third child had gone missing.

"These children going missing, it's terrible." Sarah Jane muttered.

She looked at her two children. They had been through some terrible times. They had been abducted and shot and attacked too much given their ages.

Yet they were smiling and laughing and happy.

"So how is she?" Sarah Jane asked, nodding towards the laptop to show she was talking about Maria.

"She says it's awesome and I've set her up with a UNIT scanner, she now taps their radio systems and is hunting aliens and..."

"She's really enjoying it." Luke said in a sad tone.

He missed Maria. She had been one of the first people he had ever seen and it wasn't a very well kept secret that Luke had had feelings for Maria.

"I know it's hard when you lose someone special in your life. But you'll see Maria again."

"And it's not like she doesn't email you every other day." Penny said.

"And we'll all meet up for her mum's wedding. Maria's going to be here for a few days for that." Sarah Jane added.

Then Clyde bounced in. He smiled at Penny and put his arm around her shoulders.

"This is Clyde Langer reporting live from 13 Bannerman road. I am here with my glamorous co-host, Penny Smith, to tell you all the latest new from the street."

"And what is happening today, Clyde?"

"I'm glad you asked. At this precise moment a new family is moving into number 36, the house across the street." Clyde said.

The Smiths all looked at each other as if they were attempting to see if one of them could resist the urge to go and look. They all gave in and hurried out onto the driveway. Clyde was left standing in the kitchen. He smiled and then a hand grabbed his. Penny pulled him out with her.

.

They watched the removal van as people began to unload it. Penny frowned. It didn't look very good.  
>"They have no idea what they're moving in over the road from." Penny remarked.<p>

Sarah Jane made all the children promise to do everything they could to make sure that their new neighbours didn't find out.

"Why would we tell them? It's not like it's Maria." Luke remarked and began to walk to school.

Sarah Jane looked at Penny and Clyde.

"Could you two make sure he's alright?" she asked.

"Do you really need to ask?" Penny said and began to walk off.

She turned back.  
>"Let hope Maria didn't leave anything around there." Penny added.<p>

"What?"

Clyde answered because his girlfriend had already wondered off.

"Well, we did deal with some pretty strange things. Who knows what alien gunk could be stuck somewhere they couldn't clean?"

.

"I did not fancy Maria." Luke said.

"But you said you liked her." Penny protested.

"It's okay. I just taught him too well. Clyde's Cool Rule Number Two, deny all emotion, especially when involving girls." Clyde smirked.

"You just said that in front of your girlfriend." Penny pointed out.

She smiled and kissed Clyde on one of his blushing cheeks. Clyde scanned the corridor, trying to gauge how much damage the blush had done to his reputation.

"I just miss her, okay?" Luke said.

"I know." Penny told him. "I do too, and so does Clyde."

"It won't be the same without her. Who am I meant to save from the Slitheen and the Sontarans and..."

Someone hit into Clyde's back. He turned and looked down. It was a rather pretty girl their age. She was hurrying to pick up her books that she had dropped all over the floor. Luke had automatically knelt down to help. Penny soon followed.

"Sorry." the girl murmured.

"It's okay. You can just blame Clyde."

"I'm looking for Mr Cunningham's class."

"That's our class." Luke pointed out, helpfully. "I'm Luke, that's Penny, my sister. That's her boyfriend, Clyde. He thinks he's cool."

"He's not." Penny clarified.

The girl smiled, seemingly relaxed.

"I'm Rani. Today's my first day." the girl said.

"And you bumped into me." Clyde said proudly. "What a start!"

"Yeah, like starting the hundred metres sprint by tripping over your shoelaces." Penny laughed, gently patting Clyde's shoulder. "So have you just moved into the area or...?"

"Just moved." Rani told them. "My family just moved into Bannerman road."

Penny and Luke all shot each other knowing looks but kept silent about the fact that the siblings lived there.

"Where else?" Clyde commented. "Sarah Jane is right; the universe never stops weirding you out."

"Sarah who?" Rani asked.

Penny offered Clyde a scolding glare.

"Never mind." Luke said. "I'll take you to class."

Luke and Rani began to walk away. Rani looked back at Penny and Clyde to see they were following and then saw a flash of colour at the end of the corridor. She looked at what she was sure had been a clown but they were gone as suddenly as they had appeared.

"Come on. I'd better not be late." Rani said.

.

"And the boy's football team has been knocked out of the inter-schools challenge by West Hill after a 4-0 mauling last night." Mr Cunningham droned on.

The class erupted into a series of boos. Anyone who did not know who the boy's football team could clearly tell who they were by the faces that blushed red at the news.

"However, the girl's team is still going strong thanks to two goals from the team's captain, Penny Smith, giving them a 2-1 win over St Cheldons."

Everyone turned to Penny with grins on their faces. Penny just squeezed Clyde's hand happily and let him put his arm around her shoulders. Rani studied the two of them. They seemed so at peace around each other.

"Penny is the school's sports star." Luke explained as Penny received a high five from a boy sitting to her left.

"We'll be looking for the same news in the National Schools Science Challenge. Be sure to wish Luke luck with that."

"Lukey!" Penny began to chant.

Soon the whole class joined in. Luke went the most pleasant shade of red. He wasn't used to all the praise. Rani listened to the class cheering as she turned to Luke again. She wanted to find out as much about the school as possible.

"Quite the brain box, are we, Luke?" Rani asked.

"They haven't got a box big enough." Clyde assured Rani.

Suddenly a rather commanding man walked in and glared at all the teenagers.  
>"That's enough!" the man shouted.<p>

Mr Cunningham looked alarmed as he looked at the man. He turned to his pupils.

"Class, this is Mr Chandra, our new head." he said.

"This is a school. My school. And you come here to learn, not to play about. You, boy, sit up straight and pay attention! And that goes for all of you. I know it's been a while since your last head teacher, Mr Blakeman, disappeared, and it looks like standards around here vanished with him. But, listen up: Park Vale has a new captain on the bridge now." Mr Chandra said, pacing the classroom.

"I'm getting a serious sinking feeling." Penny muttered to Clyde and Luke who both smiled at her joke.

Mr Chandra looked in the direction of the muttering but didn't identify Penny as the culprit.

"I'm a fair captain but, believe me, I run a very tight ship."

"Aye, aye, Captain." Clyde said, with a mock salute.

He said it a bit too loud and Mr Chandra's eyes instantly fell on him.

"The joker in the pack." Mr Chandra said, looking at Clyde. "I hope your school work is and sharp as your wit."

"It takes brains to be this funny." Clyde informed their head teacher.

Rani didn't want to watch the scene. She was feeling awkwardly embarrassed. She looked away and out of the window. Her gaze settled on a park in the distance. Suddenly she noticed a clown right at the window. It couldn't be right, they were on the second storey.

Yet it was there.

A clown dressed in bright colours with red hair and a red balloon it's gloved hand.

Rani looked away and, when she looked back, the clown was gone.

.

Sarah Jane rung the doorbell to the house that had once been Maria's house. When it had been Maria's house, her children had soon given up on the doorbell and had just taken up swanning in as if it was their own home. It felt very strange to be expecting someone else to open the door.

Sarah Jane was holding a Thermos and a tray of cupcakes so she could get herself invited in.

The door was opened by a happy woman who smiled as soon as she saw Sarah Jane.

"Hello?" the woman said.

"Hello. I live over the road. I saw you moving in and thought you maybe hadn't had time to find the kettle yet." Sarah Jane said, holding up the Thermos.

The woman's smile grew and she held the door wide open.

"You are a life saver. Would you like to come in?"

.

Sarah Jane sat in what had once been the lounge and looked at all the boxes. The woman apologised for all the mess and then introduced herself as Gita. She collected a few mugs from the kitchen and set about pouring the hot contents of the Thermos into them. Sarah Jane took the time to scan the room for alien tech and was happy when it came up all clear.

Gita walked through holding the mugs.

"I didn't catch your name." Gita said.  
>"Oh, sorry, I'm Sarah Jane."<p>

"So the big house opposite, that's yours?" Gita said, taking a seat on the half uncovered sofa.

"Yes."

"It's a lovely house. Space for lots of kids, do you have any?"

"Yes. Two. I've got a daughter called Penny and a son called Luke. It's just the three of us."

"Ah." Gita said, nodding. "We've got a daughter. Rani. She's very clever."

"Luke's rather clever too." Sarah Jane said. "So what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a florist. I've got a flower shop called Bloomin' Lovely in the area. What about you?"

Sarah Jane paused for a few seconds and then answered. She knew she needed to get out of the house before she became too close to Gita.

"I'm a freelance journalist." Sarah Jane said.  
>"A journalist? My Rani wants to be a journalist. What a coincidence!"<p>

"Well, my work tends to be very specialised and it keeps me very busy. I really should be going now." Sarah Jane said, making excuses.

"Rani will be so excited. She's very curious, wants to know everything about everyone."

Sarah Jane frowned. That wasn't the sort of neighbour she wanted.

.

Luke was wondering around the playground hopelessly. Penny was off playing football and Clyde was watching and occasionally joining in. Normally Luke would have been with Maria but she wasn't there. Suddenly Rani walked up to him.

"So what were the last people who lived in our house like, Mr Jackson and his daughter?" Rani asked.

"Nice. I miss Maria."

"Oh yeah?" Rani said in a tone Luke recognised as the prying tone that both Penny and Clyde used as they implied something that really wasn't any of their business.

"I mean, we were friends, Maria, Clyde, Penny and me." Luke said.

"We can be friends." Rani tried.

"It wouldn't be the same."

"Sorry I suggested it." Rani said, feeling suddenly bad.

There was something about the way Luke talked about Maria. It was more than friendship but different from boyfriend and girlfriend love. It was like a form of dependence and friendship and the feeling that he was completely safe.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's hard to explain. Inter-personal relationships aren't something I've master yet and Penny and Clyde aren't much help." Luke said, glancing over at Penny and Clyde who were kissing. "They say that some relationships are different depending on which people are in them and no two relationships are completely the same."  
>"I hope you don't mind me telling you, but you're a bit strange. I think you're alright, you're just a bit strange."<p>

Suddenly Luke was defensive.

"I'm not strange. I'm different. There's a difference."

Rani thought for a minute before agreeing with him. She could tell that she needed to change the subject.

"These kids going missing. That's weird. The police don't have a clue about it but already three have gone."

"Statistically, the chances of you being abducted are extremely remote." Luke said.

_Especially given that the Smiths seem to hold the world record for abductions._ Luke added mentally.

"I'm not worried; I'm just interested. Weird things interest me. So have you seen anything strange?"

The football Penny and a few others had been playing with rolled to Luke's feet.

"Kick it back, Luke!" Penny called.

Luke did as requested and once again his bad football skills were clear as the football hit their new head teacher. Penny winced and Luke went pale.

"Who was that?" Mr Chandra ordered in a loud booming voice.

Luke looked like he was about to cry. Penny and Clyde both felt sick inside. It wasn't like Luke had aimed at Mr Chandra.

Penny was about to raise her hand and pretend it was her when Clyde took the blame. Rani watched as Clyde was lead inside by Mr Chandra. Penny hurried over to Luke.

"Luke, you okay?" Penny asked.

Luke nodded silently.

"We know it's an accident, okay, and Mr Chandra's just trying to seem like he's in charge."

"Will Clyde be punished?" Luke asked, slowly.

_Oh, Luke, don't do that to yourself._ his sister silently wined.

"You know how good Clyde is at getting out of trouble." Penny said.

Rani watched the exchange between siblings with a nervous smile. Something seemed off about the way the two of them acted.

.

Clyde was left standing outside the headteacher's office as Mr Chandra finished some things off inside. As he stood there, a friend of his approached, frowning at him.

"He's got you here. But Luke did it. By accident."

"Yeah, well, me and the captain didn't exactly hit it off from the start and Luke isn't used to getting told off." Clyde shrugged, telling Finney it was no big deal.

His friend nodded, telling Clyde that he needed to get some supplies for Art Club and Clyde offered him a nod. As much as Clyde liked art, and as good at it as he was, he didn't want to join to the Art Club. It meant less time with his friends and another reason for people to think he was strange. Finney ducked into the cupboard nearby and Clyde watched him. Then something bright caught his eye. A reflection in the trophy case that should be showing the stationary cupboard had flashed with bright colours for a second. Frowning, Clyde decided to check it out.

"Dave?" Clyde called, using the teenager's proper name. "Finney? Are you in there?"

Reaching the doorway, Clyde looked into the cupboard and gasped, finding it empty. Laughter filled the air and the teenager forced a slight laugh into his voice.

"Finney, are you messing me around?" Clyde asked, turning to leave the cupboard.

He walked back out into the corridor and found himself drawn to a colourful figure standing a few metres away. A clown stood there, one hand grasping the string of a red balloon and the other holding a large handkerchief.

"Hey!" Clyde shouted, running towards the clown.

Laughing, the clown calmly lifted his handkerchief and flapped it between himself and Clyde. Then disappeared. Looking around, the teenager smiled as he heard the male toilet door closing, expecting to find Finney.

.

Clyde darted into the toilets and checked each stall. They were all empty. The entire room was empty. Unsure what was happening, Clyde found himself glaring at the mirror. Then, behind his reflection, he saw the clown, smiling at him and showing rotting teeth. Glancing over his shoulder, Clyde found that the clown was only in the mirror, not standing behind him as the reflection suggested.

"What are you?" Clyde asked, horror lacing his tone.

Tipping his head to one side, the clown's smile deepened. He reached out, hand bursting through the mirror as if it was water.

"All I want to do is give you a balloon." the clown cooed.

Clyde stepped back, horrified but then found himself being drawn towards the balloon, unable to pull away.

"Langer!" Mr Chandra shouted, storming into the toilets.

His shout drew Clyde's focus from the mirror and onto him.

"I've been looking for you. Why aren't you outside my office?"

Clyde stumbled over his words before glancing back to the mirror to try and work out why his teacher couldn't see the clown. However the clown had vanished.

.

"A clown?" Mr Chandra said incredulously.

"That's what I saw. Look, if I'm making this up, tell me: where's Finney? I mean Dave."

The headteacher shook his head and his face twisted into a look of annoyance.

"He's been kidnapped by a clown from the stationery cupboard. Langer, I don't know what sort of game you're playing, but this is not the way to make an impression on me."

"I should have just kept my mouth shut." Clyde muttered under his breath.

Unfortunately, Mr Chandra heard him. He pointed out that it was much more likely for a teenaged boy to skip lessons than be abducted in the manner Clyde had described.

"Not Finney. Ask anyone. He wouldn't do something like that."

"Children are disappearing and you think this is something to joke about?"

"I tell jokes, not lies." Clyde replied.

Mr Chandra paused for a moment, leaning back in his desk chair and looked over to the computer. After he had first heard Clyde's story he had checked the CCTV footage with him and all it had shown was Clyde racing about the corridors.

"How come no one else has seen this clown? Not even our CCTV cameras."

"Oh, what's the use?" Clyde groaned, getting up. I knew I was wasting my time even talking to you. You're never going to believe me. It's a good thing there's someone else who will."

.

Clyde had spent the rest of lunchtime in detention and hadn't been able to talk to either one of the Smiths before the end of school. He found them waiting for him in the playground and told them his story as they walked out of school.

"I think we should tell Mum." Luke said, looking at Clyde and Penny.

"Yeah. Did Mr Chandra believe you?" Penny asked, squeezing Clyde's hand.

"What do you think? He's called the police in but they're not exactly going to be looking for a clown that comes at you out of a mirror, are they?"

The two Smiths agreed, nodding. Penny turned to Luke and pointed out that there were cases of aliens abducting kids.  
>"Plenty. Kudlak is just one example. Mum doesn't talk about them much."<p>

"But those were aliens. This is a clown." Luke countered.

"It could be an alien dressed up as a clown." Clyde pointed out, getting very defensive.

"Why would an alien be dressed up as a clown?" the other boy asked.

Clyde was getting annoyed that no one seemed to believe him and snapped at Luke. Penny stopped him, telling him to calm down.

"He does believe it. He just doesn't understand it."

Clyde nodded, looking away. His gaze was suddenly drawn across the street where the clown was standing in an alley.

"There it is!" Clyde shouted, starting out at it.

He glanced to see if Penny and Luke were looking but saw the confusion on their faces. Looking back he realised the clown had disappeared.

"Come on!" Clyde shouted.

.

The group ran down the alleyway, Luke and Penny looking highly confused. They had both guessed they were chasing the clown but hadn't caught sight of him for the entire chase. Clyde kept running off, shouting that he had seen him and Luke and Penny followed loyally but weren't exactly sure if they should be.

Then Clyde skidded to a halt, looking around the alleyway. He muttered something about losing him and then his eyes settled on a nearby wheelybin. There was a bright red balloon hanging in the air, string tied around the handle of the bin. The trio moved closer, examining the balloon. Clyde found himself reaching out to grab the string.

"Don't touch it!" Rani shouted, rushing forwards.

The group turned to look at her as she ran over to them.

"Why?" Penny asked.

"I don't know why, just don't." Rani instructed.

The teenagers stared at the balloon for a few seconds more before an insane laughter seemed to emanate from it and then it popped.

.

"But you didn't tell anyone?" Penny clarified as Rani finished telling them her version of events.

Rani nodded.

"What am I supposed to say? Look, Mum and Dad, I don't want to worry you, but I'm seeing clowns that no one else can see?"

When Luke asked her why not, Rani gave a laugh.

"Do you want them to get me locked up?"

"Why would they do that?" Luke asked, frowning at the girl.

Penny was about to intervene when Rani turned to Clyde.

"What planet is he from?" she asked.

Clyde decided that a bit of humour might distract her from Luke so smirked and gave his answer.

"Oh, Earth. Mostly."

Giving a fake laugh, Rani shook her head.

"No wonder the head teacher loves you."

Deciding that a discussion about the head teacher would get them nowhere, Penny turned the conservation back to the clown, telling her that she should probably leave it to the police.

"Things like this could be dangerous." she finished.

"The police don't even believe it exists. What good can they do?"  
>Luke stepped in and told the girl that his sister was right. Not believing him, Rani gave a huff.<p>

"There's something happening here that doesn't make everyday sense. Maybe you can ignore it because it doesn't go with your MP3 player or your designer trainers, but I can't. I've got to know what's going on."

Clyde moved closer to Penny, hissing that her mother was going to love Rani. Giving a nod, his girlfriend went to try another tactic. However she didn't get a chance.

"Look, there's something I've got to tell you." Rani said, spying a car coming down the road.

"You're from another planet? We already know." Penny joked, then she noticed the car.

"Actually it's worse than that." Luke said, having noticed the car as well.

"What can be worse than..." Clyde noticed the car mid-sentence. "Oh no, Rani, please tell me there's a good reason why our new head just pulled up outside your house that doesn't involve the word dad."

Rani tried to sooth the situation by telling them that he wasn't that bad. The teenagers struggled to believe her.

The headmaster saw Rani coming as he go out of his car.

"Rani!" he called over.

"Hi, dad." Rani said with a blush.

Hearing her family's return, Gita walked out of the house, telling Haresh, the headteacher, that he needed to help.

She turned to Rani.

"Did your dad go Captain Bligh again?"

"Just a little bit." Rani said with a smile.

"I do not go Captain Bligh." Haresh tried to tell his wife and daughter.

In the end he gave up trying. He scanned his daughter's companions with a frown. He recognised one of them. He didn't like that he recognised him.

"Dad, meet Luke, Clyde and Penny." Rani said.

"Penny Smith." Penny said with a nod.

"Luke Smith. Pleased to meet you." he said, extending a hand which Haresh shook.

"The Smiths?" Haresh repeated, thoughtfully.

Penny and Luke both nodded. It was then that Sarah Jane decided to interrupt.

"They're my children." she said, holding out her own hand. "I'm Sarah Jane Smith."

"I've been reading up about your children. Luke's scores over the past year are really quite remarkable and Penelope is probably the most talented sports player I've ever taught."

Penny winced at the use of her full name. No one knew her as Penelope.

"They're both very gifted." Sarah Jane needlessly assured Haresh. "And they work together so well."

Clyde moved forwards and took Penny's hand with a smile.

"Not to say me and Penny don't." Clyde smirked. "I'm Clyde Langer, the joker in the pack. And I see clowns that don't exist."

"It's okay, Clyde, you know you exist." Penny laughed. "Unfortunately."

The two of them walked hand and hand into the large house across the road. Luke followed them loyally.

.

Having heard the teenagers telling her what had happened – Luke repeating Rani's story word for word – Sarah Jane was pretty sure she could understand why they were all so concerned. She told Clyde that, given how strange his story was, it was very unlikely anyone who didn't do what they did or hadn't seen the clown would believe him.

"But what about the clown?" Clyde asked.  
>"If it's an alien taking the kids, a clown isn't exactly low profile." Penny pointed out, looking through the telescope to try and watch the Chandra household.<p>

"It might know that kids are supposed to like clowns." Luke added.

Sarah Jane shivered and told the group that she had never liked clowns and that they had always managed to give her the creeps.  
>"Coulrophobia. It's the fear of clowns. Johnny Depp has it."<p>

"What encyclopaedia did you find that in?" Clyde asked, raising an eyebrow at Luke.

"Heat." the boy answered calmly.

Clyde glanced towards Penny, giving her a mock look of accusation. Penny quickly informed him that they weren't her magazines.

"We need to talk to someone who might be able to give us information on why the victims are chosen." Sarah Jane mused. "The boy who was kidnapped today: his parents will be too busy with the police but maybe his friends."

Clyde quickly told them that it was the boys' football team practise that night. Penny scoffed at it.

"And they need all the practise they can get."

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes at her daughter and grabbed up her coat, telling them that they were going to go and ask questions. Luke hung back and got his mother's attention.

"What about Rani? She's seen the clown too."

"I don't want her involved."

"She sounded like she was planning on getting involved even if we stayed away." Luke told her. "And she might be in danger."  
>Sarah Jane considered it for a moment before giving her son a nod.<p>

"Someone should keep an eye on her. Penny, Clyde, you two can come with me. Luke, make sure she stays inside and is safe."

.

Rani was sitting at her kitchen table as she listened to her parents discuss what had happened at school behind her. They were talking in hushed voices but Rani knew exactly what they were talking about. Pretending to be working while she sipped on a cup of tea, she just continued to listen.

"Makes me ill just thinking about it. You watch yourself, won't you, Rani?" Gita said, bringing her daughter into the discussion for the first time.

Rani turned to face her mother but had no chance to say anything before her father said that everything would be fine so long as she stayed away from Clyde.

"David Finn is one of Clyde's best friends, Dad. He wasn't making it up. Clyde saw a clown. Why would he lie?" Rani pointed out.

For a few moments Haresh thought about it and then shook his head. He nodded towards a plastic carrier bag he had left on the kitchen table, saying that he had brought the boy's school books home for the police.

"There's still a chance that something was worrying him and he ran away. If so, there may be a clue there." he said.

There was a pause before Gita told her husband she needed help moving the bed. Rani waited until she could no longer hear the two of them talking before she pulled the top book out of the bag. Flicking through the pages, she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. However, turning the book so the back was up, she found a clown staring up at her. The drawing was so life like and identical to the clown that had been following her. On the back of each book it was the same. Rani found her heart thundering and could no longer look at them, eyes flicking up to the window.

The clown was standing there. Watching her. Rani stood up, whispering to herself that it couldn't be real. She closed her eyes, screwing them shut and sounding to three.

When she opened them again, the clown was gone from the window.

However a presence by her side drew her attention and she saw the clown standing there, gaze flicked on her with his head titled to the side. His smile was widen and his decaying teeth gleamed out at her.

"Rani, you've got a visitor." a voice called from the doorway.

Rani instinctively snapped towards the owner of the voice, about to warn them about the clown. Her mother stood in the doorway. Rani said nothing, quickly glancing back when she saw no shock on her mother's face. The clown was gone.  
>"I thought you might need a hand unpacking." Luke said, appearing in the doorway.<p>

.

Clyde had picked out David Finn's best friend, Steve, and called him over. The boy had been hesitant to leave his practise so brought over a football and began to pass it to Penny as he talked.

"My dad says journalists are scum." Steve remarked.

The football slammed him right in the chest and he looked between Penny and Sarah Jane as if only then making the link. Clyde stepped forwards to talk to him, telling him that Sarah Jane was trying to help them find Finney. Upon hearing his friend's name, Steve said he would answer a few questions. He collected the football from where it had bounced from his chest and passed to back to Penny. After saying that he didn't think Finney had been acting strangely, he was asked about clowns. For a second he dismissed it but then a memory came to mind.

"There was this clown handing out tickets by the station. I think Finney took one but I told the clown to push off. A couple of other kids took them too."

"What about Tony Warner?" Penny asked, knowing that Steve occasionally hung out with him.

Steve gave her a nod but then told her that they were just tickets from a clown. He stopped the ball she passed to him and kicked it back.

"What were they tickets for?" Clyde asked.  
>"I don't know. Some museum. Spellman or something." Steve answered.<p>

Realisation brightened Clyde's eyes and he drove his hand into his pocket, fishing out a crumpled rectangle of brown paper. He held it out to Sarah Jane, telling her that his mum had picked it up from the shops.

Spellman's Magical Museum of the Circus."

.

Rani had got Luke to go up into her bedroom to talk. Although they had started off by unpacking, the task had been forgotten as the two had begun to talk. Rani had quickly nipped down the stairs to pick up a few of Finney's books to show Luke and then told him about the clown she had seen.

"It's getting closer, Luke. It was in the kitchen."  
>Luke tried to reassure her, telling her that it was gone, but the look on her face told him that he hadn't succeed in his task.<p>

"Dad's taking Finney's books to the police. They're looking for clues but I don't think they'll be looking for size thirty footprints."

"There might not be anything they can do." Luke pointed out.

Rani took it as confirmation that he agreed with her and told him that she had to do something as Finney was seeing the same clown she was. Going through the pages to find more drawings, she found herself stumbling across a small brown card wedged into the pages.

Rani's eyes widened as she handed it to Luke.

"Spellman's Magical Museum of the Circus?" Luke read, incredulously.

He lowered the card to see Rani was going through her school bag and watched as she produced an identical ticket.

"People were handing these out by the Tube."

Luke wasn't sure what to do but he could tell Rani was in serious danger. He decided that the only thing he could do was direct Rani to Sarah Jane.

"I can't talk to anyone, Luke. Don't you get it? You haven't seen the clown. I think only kids that get one of these can see it, and then they disappear." Rani told him in reply.

Her theory had an answer for everything Luke could throw at it and he knew she had probably come up with the right idea. After he once again tried to push Rani into speaking with his mum, the girl got up, saying that the ticket held the answer.

.

Clyde stared up at the museum as he got out of the car. Sarah Jane and Penny moved around to join him. The museum was a wood fronted building with blue walls and yellow and red swirls dancing over them.

"Welcome to the circus of horrors." Clyde remarked, throwing his arms out wide as he took a step forwards.

Sarah Jane shook her head, snapping at Clyde that sometimes his jokes were not appreciated. She moved off, walking up to the front door. Clyde looked back at his girlfriend.

"Who said I was joking?" he laughed slightly.

Penny took a step forwards to join him, taking his hand.

"Is she okay?" he asked, nodding towards Sarah Jane.

Penny watched her mother from afar for a few seconds before turning to Clyde.

"Clowns really do get her scared." she told him, tugging on his hand to lead him inside.

.

Laughter was lurking in the air and spiralling from cases that held wooden clown puppets. Set on some form of motor to make them work, the toys moved in jerking movements, arms and legs snapping up and then tumbling. Stuffed circus animals stood in fake rings, faded blankets resting over their backs. Paintings and posters showing circuses of all types dotted the walls.

"Like, museums don't normally creep me out. All those stuffed animals, old bones and mummies. But this place doesn't just take the biscuit, this place gets the whole Christmas tin." Clyde remarked as he followed Sarah Jane around the museum.

Suddenly Penny jumped, having looked over her boyfriend's shoulder to see a man standing between them and the way they had come. He was dressed in a ringmaster's costume, complete with a top hat and holding a whip in one white gloved hand.

"Welcome, welcome to Spellman's Magical Museum of the Circus and the story of the most wondrous family entertainment in the world. From the tumblers and jugglers of Ancient Rome to the father of the modern circus, believe it or not, a Sergeant Major in the 15th Light Dragoons." he said, offering a bow.

After a small amount of prying he introduced himself as Elijah Spellman and Sarah Jane returned the favour by introducing herself, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend.

"We're here to talk to you about clowns." Penny added.

Spellman smiled and nodded.

"The princes of the strawdust ring." he remarked. "This way."

Moving forwards, the cut through the group and began to head down a corridor into another room.

.

The room they were led into was full of mannequins dressed in brightly coloured clown outfits. Each one had a painted face. Sarah Jane shivered as she entered the room and her eyes flicked to Penny and Clyde, checking both were safe and in her sight.

"Mankind has always needed someone to make them laugh, slave or king?"  
>Trying to calm Sarah Jane down, Clyde stepped forwards and asked if Spellman could drop a note to his headteacher. The man didn't even pause.<p>

"The Pharaohs had fools. So did the Native Americans. We had harlequins, and, in the Middle Ages, the jester." he continued.

"It's not the history we're interested in." Penny countered, trying to get the focus back on the matter at hand.

She didn't like seeing her mother so nervous and wanted their trip there to be done as soon as possible.

"Yes." Sarah Jane said, managing to snap out of her panic. "I'm interested in their reputation for scaring people."

Smiling almost dreamily, Spellman entitled it the fear of the painted smile.

"It's not as simple as that, Mister Spellman. They used to paint clowns on the walls of children's wards, but when they were asked, every child said the pictures scared them. Children sense things. I know."

.

Luke sighed as Rani pulled him into the Circus Museum. He had tried to convince her that she was making a mistake but the girl had been adamant that she would be making more of a mistake if she didn't investigate. Giving a final weak protest, Luke allowed himself to be pulled into the building.

.

While Spellman and Sarah Jane fenced with words, Clyde and Penny had turned their attention to the rest of the room. They were studying the pictures on the walls, Penny glancing over her shoulder to check on her mother every few seconds.

"Look at this. These are the same colours as the clown I saw. Red, yellow and blue." Clyde whispered to Penny as he pointed out a painting of a clown.

Sarah Jane looked over and examined the picture over the teenagers' shoulders.

"That's not a clown, Clyde. It's the Pied Piper. I used to get told the story as a kid. He rid Hamelin of its plague of rats, then when the town refused to pay him he came back and took all their children." Penny explained.

Spellman suddenly appeared behind the group, smiling as he did. He told them about the painting and how it showed the Pied Piper was a traveling entertainer.

"But even clowns have their dark days." he concluded, smiling in Sarah Jane's direction.

"And that's exactly the sort of clown I'm interested in." Sarah Jane countered.

Clyde protested that the story was just a fairy tale before Penny hissed a single word at him: Gorgon. Suddenly Sarah Jane gasped, realising that Spellman was nowhere in sight. She turned to the teenagers, checking they were both present before shepherding them out of the room.

.

Rani and Luke were slowly moving along the corridors, wonder in Rani's eyes as she took in every detail. Luke kept glancing around, getting the feeling that his mum might be showing up at any moment. Either that or something dangerous.

"It doesn't look like there's anyone here. Maybe it's closed."

"The sign said it was open, Luke. You can go back if you want but I want to look around. What if it was you who had a ticket? Or Penny? Wouldn't you want someone to check it out?"  
>"Luke?" Sarah Jane gasped as she turned the corner, instantly recognising her son.<p>

"Mum?" Luke said, confused even though he had expected her to be there.

"What are you doing here?" Clyde asked, his glare flicking between Rani and Luke.

"What are we doing here? What are _you_ doing here?" Rani asked.

"You told me to stay with her." Luke protested.

Rani was getting really confused and annoyed. She didn't like it when people tried to keep her out of the loop.

"Yeah, and keep her out of the action." Penny tried, going to pull Luke over so she could talk to him without Rani hearing.

"What action?" Rani asked, her voice rising in anger.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Rani's arm. The girl turned to see that the hand was attached to one of the model clowns. Horror covered her face and she let out a scream. Instantly a set of human hands were around her arm and tugging it free. Rani looked up to see that Penny had reacted first.

"What's happening?" Clyde asked, looking towards Sarah Jane.

"They're moving!" Rani gasped.

"You're joking, right?" Penny said, sarcastically.

"Something's animating the clowns."

"Run!" Sarah Jane ordered.

.

Running through the corridors of the museum, the group were doing their best of keep Rani in the middle. An attack was most likely from either the front or behind and none of them wanted Rani caught up in it. They could hear marching footsteps following them, showing them that the clowns were giving chase.

"What happened to Spellman?" Clyde asked, as they ran.

"Either he's doing this or nothing good has happened to him." Penny answered.

"He's controlling them." Sarah Jane said with conviction. "I think they're like puppets, probably under some sort of telekinetic control."

"Walking puppets? Telekinetic control?" Rani said incredulously, forcing herself to understand the new world she was experiencing.

Luke mistook the disbelief for a lack of understand and explained what they meant to Rani. Snapping back to him that she understood, Rani suddenly felt extremely guilty. However, she knew that they didn't have time for apologies.

"Who's Spellman?" she asked.

"Probably an alien." Luke answered just as a wall of clowns appeared from the end of the corridor and began to march towards them.

Each teenager stared in horror, knowing that they couldn't turn back. Hand diving into her pocket, Sarah Jane hurried forwards. She aimed her sonic at the clowns, urging the teenagers to stand behind her if anything unexpected happened. With jarring movements, the clowns began to malfunction and something close to a smile spread across Sarah Jane's face.

"What was that?" Rani asked.

"Sonic lipstick." Penny explained, moving past Rani to walk past the malfunctioning clowns.

"She's seized up their joints." Luke added, going to follow his sister.

Rani looked at the Smith family as if they were all insane but cautiously followed. Eyes trained on the clowns with suspicion, Rani tried to make sense of it all.

"Aliens. Luke said aliens."

"Actually, he said alien." Penny called back.

"And it could still be around here somewhere. Come on. There's no time for explanations." Sarah Jane said.

Clyde nodded and told Rani that one alien could be just as dangerous as an entire fleet.

.

They managed to reach the doors without any other interruptions. Just when the group felt they had managed to escape, Clyde found he couldn't get the doors open. A look of confusion flooded onto his face as he was told to stop messing around. When neither Penny nor Luke could get the doors open either, Sarah Jane tried her sonic. Nothing happened.

"He's sealed the doors." Sarah Jane said, terror running through her voice.

"Telekinesis." Penny concluded with a groan.

Sarah Jane nodded and looked at each teenager before warning them that they were dealing with something extremely powerful.

"And it's got us trapped." Rani gasped.

"That's nothing to worry about. Me and Luke get kidnapped so many times, someone either accused mum of kidnapping him." Penny joked, trying to keep Rani calm.

Sarah Jane glared at her daughter, trying to convey that it was not the time to be making jokes about the latest Slitheen incursion, nor would it even be the time. Especially not when that encounter had almost left Sarah Jane powerless in the face of losing her children.  
>"He just thinks he's got us trapped."<p>

Suddenly appearing behind Sarah Jane, Spellman leant forwards. "Oh no, Miss Smith, I am quite sure of it."

Rani took a step forwards, looking at the man in front of them.

"Are you really an alien?" Rani asked.

Sarah Jane realised that she had stepped forwards and tried to move between the teenager and the ringmaster, trying to keep the attention on her.

"Who are you?" Sarah Jane asked, looking at Luke, Clyde and Penny as they tried to force the door open.

The ringmaster smiled as he shifted from his Spellman form into a much more colourful white faced form.

"I am the Pied Piper, who conjured away a whole town's infants, and has chilled the hearts of parents for more than seven centuries." the man said.

Then he shifted against, suddenly becoming the brightly coloured clown that had been stalking Clyde and Rani. Terror flooded Sarah Jane's face and she took a step backwards, shivering slightly at the man.

"And now I am Odd Bob the Clown, who snatches children in the heartbeat their mother's back is turned. I am the thing that lives in the darkest corners. I am all these things and more. I am all that you fear the most. And you are mine to feed on!"


End file.
